The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky gives a press conference at a kyiv metro station. PhotoAFP
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky doubled the pressure on its main Western ally, the US. for “more and more powerful weapons”. That target marks the high-impact and most reserved meeting in kyiv with foreign minister Joe Biden, Antony Blinken, and Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin.
The visit, the highest official in Washington since the beginning of the war it has had high symbolic value in Western support for kyiv.
This also happens in the midst of compulsive versions already the war may enter the last chapter of the present stage after the Russian annexation of the port city of Mariupol. So on May 9 autocrat Vladimir Putin could declare victory if he continues fighting in the east of the country and stops the attacks.
Zelensky announced the visit of the U.S. Foreign Minister and Defense Minister a few hours earlier, at a press conference on Saturday night at a kyiv metro station.
Zelensky announced the visit of the US foreign minister and defense minister a few hours earlier. Photo by AFP
Umorder
Zelensky said he is looking to Americans to produce results, both in weapons and in security guarantees. “You can’t go empty -handedand we don’t just expect gifts or some kind of cake, we expect specific things and specific weapons, ”he said.
Blinken had previously briefly set foot on Ukrainian soil in March to meet with the country’s foreign minister on a visit to Poland. Zelensky’s last face-to-face contact with an American leader was on Feb. 19 in Munich with Vice President Kamala Harris.
As the West funnels military equipment into Ukraine, Zelensky has repeatedly stressed that the country needs heavier weapons, including long-range air defense systemsas well as fighter planes.
The summit with American ministers coincides with Orthodox Easter, when the faithful celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. Speaking from kyiv’s former Saint Sophia Cathedral, Zelensky, who is a Jew, stressed the importance of the occasion for a country devastated by nearly two months of war.
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