Volodymyr Zelenskiy stepped up calls for the Ukrainian army to be equipped with heavy tanks and called on Western allies for “decisiveness and speed” in decision-making. Addressing a packed meeting at the World Economic Forum in Davos via video link on Wednesday, Ukraine’s president warned that “tyranny is outpacing democracy”.
NATO countries are ready to announce new “heavier weapons” for Ukraine, the head of the alliance said. Many of Ukraine’s allies will meet on Friday at the Ramstein military base in Germany, including all 30 NATO members. “The main message will be more support and more advanced support, heavier weapons and more advanced weapons,” said Jens Stoltenberg, the alliance’s secretary general. This month, Britain pledged Western heavy tanks and the US promised to send its powerful Bradley armored fighting vehicles, while France offered its highly mobile AMX-10 RC.
The head of the European Union also spoke in favor of the West providing tanks to Ukraine. “We, the EU, will continue to support them for as long as necessary,” Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, said on Wednesday. “The time is now – they urgently need more equipment and I personally support the delivery of tanks to Ukraine.”
Germany’s Chancellor avoided a commitment to supply Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. Olaf Scholz did not mention the Leopard tanks when a Ukrainian delegate asked him “why he hesitated” to sign off on their re-export at the Davos summit. The German leader said his country was “strategically linked” to the US, France and other “friends and partners” and that any decisions on weapons should be part of a collective effort to help Ukraine win the war. The Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper later reported that Scholz had spoken to US President Joe Biden and “made it clear that Germany could bow to pressure to deliver only if the US supplied Abrams battle tanks”. The US was not ready to provide advanced Abrams tanks to Ukraine, a senior Pentagon official said on Wednesday, citing difficulties in maintenance and training.
Canada has announced that it will donate 200 armored personnel carriers to Ukraine. The move came during a visit to Kyiv by Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand. Zelensky thanked the Canadian people and their Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “on this difficult day”.
Bulgaria helped Ukraine survive Russia’s early attack by secretly supplying it with large quantities of desperately needed diesel and ammunition, the politicians responsible said. Former Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov and Finance Minister Asen Vassilev said their country – one of the EU’s poorest members and long perceived as pro-Moscow – provided 30% of the Soviet-caliber ammunition needed by Ukraine’s military during the crucial period of last three months spring, and at times 40% of the diesel.
Poland’s president has warned that Russia could be planning a new offensive in the coming months, urging countries to provide Ukraine with “weapons, weapons, weapons”. Andrzej Duda told delegates at the World Economic Forum in Davos that Russia was still strong and that more action was needed to support Ukraine, saying current levels of aid were insufficient.
Volodymyr Zelensky wrote a letter inviting Chinese leader Xi Jinping for talks, which was handed over to the Chinese delegation in Davos, Ukrainian leader’s wife Olena Zelenska reported. “It was a gesture and an invitation to dialogue, and I very much hope that there will be a response to that invitation,” she told reporters on Wednesday. China has sought to position itself as neutral in the war, while at the same time deepening its ties with Moscow.
Ukraine reported heavy fighting overnight in the eastern part of the country, where both sides have suffered heavy losses for little gain in intense trench warfare over the past two months. Ukrainian forces repelled attacks in the eastern city of Bakhmut and the nearby village of Klishchievka, the Ukrainian army said. Russia has focused on Bakhmut in recent weeks, saying last week it had captured the mining town of Soledar on its northern outskirts. “We notice a gradual increase in the number of shelling and attempted offensive actions by the occupiers,” Zelensky said in his latest address.
Vladimir Putin said he had “no doubt” that Russia’s victory in Ukraine was “inevitable”. He announced that Russia’s military-industrial complex is ramping up production during a factory visit in St. Petersburg. In a separate speech, the Russian president also said Moscow’s actions in Ukraine were aimed at stopping a “war” that has been raging in eastern Ukraine for many years. Ukraine and the West have dismissed Putin’s stated goals of demilitarizing and “denazifying” Ukraine as a pretext for war of choice and unprovoked aggression.
Four people were detained by Moscow police at a makeshift memorial dedicated to the victims of Saturday’s deadly rocket attack on an apartment building in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, according to a report. People began laying flowers at the statue of Ukrainian writer Lesya Ukrainka in a “spontaneous memorial to the victims of the Dnipro missile strike,” independent Russian human rights watchdog OVD-Info reported.
Add Comment