Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the latest in a series of meetings with Kyiv’s western allies in Germany had resulted in pledges of an additional $2bn in military assistance to help it fight the war against Russia. Zelenskyy, speaking to My-Ukraina television channel after Thursday’s meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) in Ramstein, gave few details of the assistance, but said that 34 countries had pledged support in different aspects of the 34-month-old war. “We had a very good meeting, a very good result. There was $2bn in additional packages of support to Ukraine,” he said in a video posted on the television channel’s Telegram account. The aid covered air defence, information technology, demining, naval forces, air forces and artillery.
Zelenskyy urged Ukraine’s western allies “not to drop the ball” and to continue to provide long-term military support to his embattled country, once Donald Trump returns to the White House. Speaking at the summit in Germany, Zelenskyy acknowledged that Trump’s imminent second presidency was likely to bring dramatic changes. “It’s clear that a new chapter starts for Europe and the entire world just 11 days from now,” he said.
Speaking in Ramstein, German defence minister Boris Pistorius said the UDCG was best kept under US leadership but would adapt if Washington changed its involvement. “And if those in the United States now decide not to maintain this format any longer, then we will have to make our own decisions,” said Pistorius.
Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni dismissed speculation Trump would stop supporting Ukraine and try to force it to accept unfavourable terms to end the war. “Trump has the ability to balance diplomacy and deterrence and I predict that this will be the case this time too,” she said. At a meeting with Zelenskyy, she reiterated the “all round support that Italy ensures and will continue to provide to the legitimate defence of Ukraine”. Separately, French president, Emmanuel Macron met with British prime minister Keir Starmer on Thursday, in a meeting in which they both reaffirmed their commitment to support Ukraine.
Zelenskyy backed the deployment of western troops to Ukraine as one of the “best instruments” to “force Russia to peace”. “Our goal is to find as many instruments as possible to force Russia into peace,” Zelenskyy said. He endorsed the possibility of Nato countries sending troops to Ukraine, though he did not specify whether he meant combat troops or peacekeepers.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (Easa) issued a new alert on Thursday warning non-European carriers not to fly within western Russia airspace due to the risk of being unintentionally targeted by its air defence systems. EASA said the crash last month in Kazakhstan of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane, after Russian air defences fired against Ukrainian drones, demonstrated the high risk at play. At least 38 people died in the crash.
Slovakia is weighing retaliation against Ukraine including withholding aid if a solution is not found to Kyiv’s decision to shut off Russian gas, prime minister Robert Fico said on Thursday after talks with EU energy commissioner Dan Jorgensen. Ukraine cut off the transit route after an agreement signed in 2019 expired in the early hours of 1 January. Fico has threatened to cut emergency electricity supplies to Ukraine as Russia attacks its power grid, or reduce aid for Ukrainian refugees.
Russia has launched more than 51,000 guided aerial bombs against Ukraine since the start of its full-blown invasion nearly three years ago, the Ukrainian air force said on Thursday. Guided, or glide, bombs are highly destructive and very hard to intercept. The air-launched weapons are conventional, often Soviet-era ordnance that have been fitted with wings and satellite-aided navigation to extend their range and precision.
Russian forces have established a bridgehead on the Ukrainian-held side of a frontline river in the east of the country, a local official said Thursday. The Oskil river is the de-facto frontline in parts of the eastern Kharkiv region, with Ukrainian troops entrenched mainly on the western bank and Russian forces moving to capture the eastern side. Kremlin forces have been launching audacious attempts to cross, and local Ukrainian official Andrii Besedin told state television on Thursday they had managed to cross and establish positions.
