MUNICH (AP) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that the country’s “artificial shortage” of weapons gives Russia some breathing room, hours after the country’s military commander announced he would withdraw troops from eastern Avdiivka. He warned his allies that there was a risk of
Zelenskiy was speaking at the Munich Security Conference, an annual gathering of security and foreign policy officials. Ukraine is back on the defensive against Russia after nearly two years of war, hampered by a lack of ammunition and manpower.
“The Ukrainians have proven that they can force Russia to leave,” he said. “We can take back the land, but (Russian President Vladimir) Putin may lose. This has already happened many times on the battlefield.”
“Our actions… are limited only by our strength,” he added, pointing to the situation in Avdiivka. Ukraine’s military commander, Colonel Oleksandr Shirushkyi, announced early Saturday that troops would be withdrawn from the city, where an outnumbered garrison had fought Russian attacks for four months, to avoid a siege and save the lives of soldiers.
“Dear friends, unfortunately, by leaving Ukraine with an artificial shortage of weapons, especially artillery and long-range capabilities, President Putin has been able to adapt to the intensity of the current war.” President Zelensky said. “Our collective gains will be undermined by the weakening of democracy itself over time.”
The president said withdrawing troops was the “right decision” and stressed that saving the lives of Ukrainian soldiers was a priority. He suggested Russia had achieved little, adding that it had attacked Avdiivka “with everything we had” since October, losing thousands of soldiers. “That’s what Russia has achieved. It’s the depletion of their military.”
He pointed to a shortage of long-range weapons, adding: “We are just waiting for the missing weapons.” “That is why today our weapons are our soldiers and our people.”
President Zelensky visited Berlin and Paris on Friday and also signed long-term bilateral security agreements with Germany and France, following a similar agreement with Britain last month.
“Light of NATO”: concludes defense agreements with Ukraine, France and Germany https://t.co/bmpQaZvoTS via @BreitbartNews
— Kristina Wong🇺🇸 (@kristina_wong) February 17, 2024
Ukraine’s European allies have asked the U.S. Congress to approve a package that includes $60 billion in aid to Ukraine that will go primarily to U.S. defense agencies to produce missiles, munitions and other military equipment for use on Ukrainian battlefields. I’m looking for. The package faces resistance from House Republicans.
President Zelenskiy said on Saturday that the United States “has done a lot for us” and thanked the United States for its bipartisan support. He said he planned to meet with U.S. senators in Munich on Saturday. “They need to understand that they can only defeat Russia if they are united,” he said.
Asked whether it would be a good idea to invite former US president and 2024 presidential candidate Donald Trump to Kyiv, Zelensky said: “I publicly invited him, but it depends on his wishes.” .
“If he comes, I’m even ready to go to the front line with him,” he added.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, speaking separately at the same conference, said parliamentary delays were reducing the flow of U.S. arms and ammunition, with a direct impact on the front lines.
“Every week we wait means more people will be killed on the front lines in Ukraine,” he said.
Kaja Kalas, Prime Minister of Estonia, which shares a direct border with Russia, pointed to its history in the 1930s.
“If the United States becomes isolated, it ends up costing us more,” she said, adding, “If aggression pays off elsewhere, it becomes an invitation to take advantage of it elsewhere, and the world’s “This will endanger national security,” he warned.
President Zelenskiy asserted that “there is not one of us who is not threatened by the ongoing war in Europe.”
“Don’t ask Ukraine when the war will end,” he said. “Ask yourself why Putin can still do it.”
European leaders react to Trump’s NATO comment: ‘Serious but not literal’: Times of Londonhttps://t.co/Ih5tLMidsI
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) February 12, 2024
