Zelensky travels to Brussels today, Thursday, where he will attend the summit of European leaders
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said during a visit to Paris on Wednesday that France and Germany have an opportunity to “change the rules of the game” in the war against Russia by not hesitating to deliver heavy weapons and modern combat aircraft to Ukraine.
Zelensky arrived in Paris for dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz after talks in Britain earlier in the day, where he urged his Western allies to give Ukraine “wings for freedom” by sending warplanes to help turn the tide against Russia. .
Zelensky will travel to Brussels today, Thursday, where he will attend a summit of European leaders.
“We have very little time. I am now talking about the weapons needed for peace and stopping the war that Russia started,” he said. He added, “France and Germany have the ability to change the rules of the game, and this is how I see our talks today. The sooner we obtain long-range heavy weapons and our pilots get modern aircraft … the sooner this Russian aggression will end.”
Western countries have increased their pledges of military aid to Ukraine this year with promises of hundreds of tanks and armored vehicles, as well as long-range weapons, but have so far refused to deliver Western-made fighter jets.
“We belong to the European family”
Macron said that operational matters would be discussed during the dinner, and emphasized that Russia could not be allowed to win the war, and that Paris, like Berlin, would continue to support the military support that Ukraine needs to secure its future as long as necessary.
Before Thursday’s meeting in Belgium, Scholz sought to underscore Kiev’s position in Europe. “I am sending a clear message to Brussels: Ukraine belongs to the European family,” he said.
In Britain, the Ukrainian president urged, on Wednesday, his Western allies to provide him with the “necessary weapons” to stop the Russian military operation, during a meeting in London with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
And the Ukrainian presidency said in a statement after the meeting that Zelensky “stressed the importance of Ukraine obtaining the necessary weapons from the allies to stop the Russian offensive and liberate all temporarily occupied Ukrainian lands.”
The Ukrainian president thanked the British people for their support since the “first day” of the war, and vowed that Moscow would lose as happened to “evil” in previous conflicts, as he put it.
In past wars, “evil lost,” Zelensky told lawmakers, wearing his distinctive olive green shirt. “We know that Russia will lose, and we know that victory will change the world,” he added.
Source: Alarabiya