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Ukraine is urging its Western allies to quickly send in tanks and air defense systems. PHOTO/Reuters
KIEV – Ukraine urging Western allies to hurry up and resupply tank and air defense system to Kiev. According to Ukrainian officials, the slow pace of discussions over the delivery of supplies has come at a cost to the lives of Ukrainian troops on the front lines.
“We don’t have time, the world doesn’t have time right now,” Andriy Yermak, Head of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine, wrote on the messaging app Telegram, as quoted by Reuters, Thursday (19/1/2023).
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The Western Allies met at Germany’s Ramstein Air Base on Friday (20/1/2023), focusing on the issue of whether Berlin would allow the supply of Leopard 2 battle tanks to Kiev to help repel Russian troops.
“The tank problem for Ukraine must be closed as soon as possible. Just like the question about additional air defense systems,” Yermak said. “We are paying for slowness with the lives of our Ukrainian people. It shouldn’t be like that,” he continued.
His comments echo calls made by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a video speech at the World Economic Forum. Zelensky said tanks and air defense units had to be dispatched sooner than Russia was capable of carrying out its next strike.
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This week, Britain stepped up the pressure on Germany by becoming the first Western country to send Western tanks.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said Kiev appealed to countries that have Leopard 2 tanks – Greece, Denmark, Spain, Canada, the Netherlands, Germany, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Turkey, Finland and Sweden – to supply them.
Nearly 11 months since Russia invaded its neighbour, Moscow forces control eastern and southern Ukraine. Battlefield momentum had been with Kiev for months, but Moscow had expended enormous resources trying to advance in the east.
(esn)
