The German government has announced that it will give Ukraine permission to use weapons supplied by Germany against military targets in Russia, government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said in Berlin this morning.
The government gives its blessing to Ukraine to use German weapons across the border into Russian territory bordering the Kharkiv region, after days of debate in Berlin as to whether it was willing to risk being labelled a party to war if it did so.
It follows weeks in which Ukraine has been attacked “particularly in the Kharkiv area by positions from the immediately adjacent Russian border area”, Hebestreit told journalists.
The position is controversial, with outspoken opponents in Germany, who fear an escalation of the conflict or Germany’s direct involvement in it.
Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy, speaking alongside Nordic leaders, said that he is grateful to the northern countries for their support.
Ukraine is doing everything to establish a just peace as soon as possible, he said.
Vladimir Putin can still expand terror against Ukrainian cities and villages, and is preparing more military force near Ukraine’s borders, he said.
Zelenskiy said:
The key to positive changes for us on the front and in the war overall is air defence, of course.
He added:
We must do everything to destroy Russian combat aircraft, just as we are already destroying Russian warships in the Black Sea region.
For this, we need patriot air defence systems. And today we talked about how to speed up delivery of patriot systems to Ukraine. And I thank my colleagues for their understanding.
He also said “we have established a new security architecture” with five security agreements signed.
The agreements outline the scope of military support, he said. The leaders also discussed in detail the need to start talks on Ukraine’s EU membership, he noted.
The Ukrainian president spoke about Ukraine’s hopes for the upcoming Nato summit.
Russia is “blackmailing” some leaders and there is still no confirmation from some efforts for the peace summit, he noted.
Speaking alongside Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Nordic leaders, Sweden’s prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, stressed the region’s commitment to strengthening Ukraine’s defence capabilities.
Sweden’s latest package will focus on air defence, he said, adding that it also includes artillery ammunition and armed vehicles.
Ukraine can count on continued strong Nordic support, Kristersson said.
“We stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes,” he said.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and Sweden’s prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, will speak soon at a joint press conference.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he is “grateful to Sweden for its solidarity with our country and people, as well as for its vital defense assistance.”
The Kremlin said today that it was already aware of attempts by Ukraine to strike targets on Russian territory with weapons provided by the United States, Reuters reported.
Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Sweden’s Ulf Kristersson have signed a bilateral cooperation agreement.
“This cooperation includes Swedish support amounting to more than EUR 9 billion from 2022 to 2026. My message is clear: Sweden will stand by Ukraine for as long as it takes,” the Swedish leader said.
In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy emphasised: “I don’t think Putin is crazy. He’s dangerous. It’s much scarier. You see, he will not stop”.
The German government has announced that it will give Ukraine permission to use weapons supplied by Germany against military targets in Russia, government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said in Berlin this morning.
The government gives its blessing to Ukraine to use German weapons across the border into Russian territory bordering the Kharkiv region, after days of debate in Berlin as to whether it was willing to risk being labelled a party to war if it did so.
It follows weeks in which Ukraine has been attacked “particularly in the Kharkiv area by positions from the immediately adjacent Russian border area”, Hebestreit told journalists.
The position is controversial, with outspoken opponents in Germany, who fear an escalation of the conflict or Germany’s direct involvement in it.
Germany is to send a new tranche of arms to Ukraine, worth 500 million Euros, the defence minister Boris Pistorius has announced. This brings Germany’s contributions to around 28 billion euros so far.
Speaking in Odessa at a meeting on Thursday evening with his Ukrainian counterpart Rustem Umerov, Pistorius said Germany would continue to back Ukraine. “We will continue to support you in this defensive battle,” he said.
Some of the items included in the arms package are on the verge of being delivered.
They include a “large number” of medium-range Iris-T SLM anti-aircraft missiles as well as a number of shorter range SLS missiles, Pistorius said.
Drones for both reconnaissance and fighting on the Black Sea, urgently-needed spare parts for artillery systems already delivered by Germany as well as replacement engines for Leopard battle tanks are also part of the package, and around a million rounds of ammunition for small arms.
Pistorius also announced the planned delivery, from 2025 onwards, of 18 new Howitzers of “the most up-to-date design”.
Military training, interference-free satellite communication and the maintenance and repair of existing Leopard A1 and Leopard II A4 main battle tanks due to be delivered by Spain this year, were part of Germany’s package, he emphasised.
It is unusual for Pistorius to list Germany’s contribution in such an inventorial way, but he said he was doing so in order to “underline that we are not just currently delivering what is available,” but thinking very specifically and strategically about Ukraine’s needs.
He admitted that the attitude of planning ahead, and Germany’s attempt at a sustainable approach, meant that it expected the war to be a prolonged one. “And we want and will continue to provide support,” he said.
Ukraine’s defence ministry said it is continuing to target Russian infrastructure.
Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy is in Sweden today.
“Today I am in Stockholm for the third Ukraine-Northern Europe summit. Our top priorities are to ensure more air defense systems for Ukraine, joint defense industry projects, and weapons for our warriors, as well as global efforts to force Russia to make peace,” he said.
Ukraine may use weapons delivered by western countries including Germany to defend itself against Russian attacks in the border region surrounding Kharkiv in accordance with international law, a German government spokesperson said today, Reuters reported.
Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, said today his country was not bluffing when it spoke of the possibility of using tactical nuclear weapons against Ukraine and that its conflict with the West could escalate into an all-out war, Reuters reported.
Medvedev said Moscow’s conflict with the West was developing according to the worst case scenario and that “no one can rule out it escalating to the last stage”.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has given a wide-ranging interview to the Guardian.
President Biden’s delay in sanctioning the use of western weapons against targets in Russia has left the Kremlin’s forces laughing at Ukraine and able to “hunt” its people, the Ukrainian president said.
In an interview in Kyiv, Zelenskiy said that the White House’s equivocation had cost lives and he urged the US president to overcome his perennial worries about possible nuclear “escalation” with Moscow.
On Thursday night it emerged that, after months of lobbying, the US had taken a small but symbolic step – and for the first time would permit some American made weapons to be used by Kyiv’s military to fire inside Russia in its defence of the city of Kharkiv.
But in his Guardian interview, Zelenskiy made clear he needs to be able to use “powerful” long range weapons that can hit targets inside deep Russian territory – a red line the White House has refused to lift.
The US, he said, needed to “believe in us more”.
Without this green light, Zelenskiy said other allies, such as the UK, may not allow Ukraine to use their long range weapons either. “Believe us, we have to respond. They don’t understand anything but force. We are not the first and not the last target,” he said of Russia.
“I think it is absolutely illogical to have [western] weapons and see the murderers, terrorists, who are killing us from the Russian side. I think sometimes they are just laughing at this situation,” he said. “It’s like going hunting for them. Hunting for people. They understand that we can see them, but we cannot reach them.”
Read the full interview, by Katharine Viner, Luke Harding , Shaun Walker and Nick Hopkins in Kyiv.
Joe Biden has allowed Ukraine to use some US-made weapons over one part of the Russian border, to allow Kyiv’s forces to defend against an offensive aimed at the city of Kharkiv, relaxing an important constraint on Ukraine’s able to defend itself.
“The president recently directed his team to ensure that Ukraine is able to use US-supplied weapons for counter-fire purposes in the Kharkiv region so Ukraine can hit back against Russian forces that are attacking them or preparing to attack them,” a US official said.
Limits on the use of US long-range weapons such as the army tactical missile system (Atacms) will remain, however.
“Our policy with respect to prohibiting the use of Atacms or long-range strikes inside of Russia has not changed,” the official said.
Read the full story here, by Julian Borger and Andrew Roth in Washington.
Missiles fired by the Ukrainian navy struck an oil terminal at the Russian port of Kavkaz today, Reuters reported citing a statement from the Ukrainian military.
Poland is currently organising its 45th package of aid for Ukraine, the country’s foreign minister said today, Reuters reported.
“Poland has sent 44 packages of aid to Ukraine, we are now organising our 45th... we think we’ve contributed in military assistance alone around 4 billion euros,” Radek Sikorski told reporters in Prague.
Hello, we are restarting our live coverage of the war in Ukraine.
Speaking as Nato ministers gather for talks in Prague, the alliance’s secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg, said this morning that allies will address how to sustain and step up support for Kyiv.
Allies have provided unprecedented support to Ukraine. Just last week Belgium announced 30 more F-16s and Spain and Sweden announced new packages of more than one billion euros each for air defence, for artillery and for other important equipment for Ukraine. These and other announcements come on top of the US decision of 61 billion extra US dollars for Ukraine.
But we will address how to make sure we sustain and step up our support for Ukraine and I have proposed that NATO should play a bigger role in the coordination and supply of security assistance and training for Ukraine.
I also proposed a multi-air financial pledge to ensure more accountability and predictability in the support we provide to Ukraine because we need to make sure that Moscow understands that we are prepared for the long haul in our support for Ukraine.
Four people have been killed and 25 injured in Russian missile attacks overnight in Kharkiv, Ukrinform reports.
The regional governor, Oleh Syniehubov, said “unfortunately, another body was found in the destroyed building. At this time, there are four dead.”
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2024-05-31 07:27:00Z
CBMibWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnRoZWd1YXJkaWFuLmNvbS93b3JsZC9saXZlLzIwMjQvbWF5LzMxL3J1c3NpYS11a3JhaW5lLXdhci12b2xvZHlteXItemVsZW5za2l5LXZsYWRpbWlyLXB1dGluLW5hdG_SAW1odHRwczovL2FtcC50aGVndWFyZGlhbi5jb20vd29ybGQvbGl2ZS8yMDI0L21heS8zMS9ydXNzaWEtdWtyYWluZS13YXItdm9sb2R5bXlyLXplbGVuc2tpeS12bGFkaW1pci1wdXRpbi1uYXRv
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