Zelenskyy Meets Top Military Leaders   09/06 06:18

   

   RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany (AP) -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy 
pressed for more weapons support during a meeting Friday with top United States 
military leaders and more than 50 partner nations in Germany, as Washington 
announced it would provide another $250 million in security assistance to Kyiv.

   U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the meeting of the leaders was 
taking place during a dynamic moment in Ukraine's fight against Russia, as it 
conducts its first offensive operations of the war while facing a significant 
threat from Russian forces near a key hub in the Donbas.

   It was Zelenskyy's first time to come to Ramstein to address the group, and 
he used the public appearance to stress that, in his view, what's needed most 
now is for the U.S. and the West to allow him to use the weapons they provided 
to strike deeper inside Russia -- something the U.S. has not supported out of 
concern it would further escalate the war.

   "We need to have this long-range capability, not only on the divided 
territory of Ukraine, but also on the Russian territory, so that Russia is 
motivated to seek peace," Zelenskyy told the members. "We need to make Russian 
cities and even Russian soldiers think about what they need: peace or Putin."

   So far, the surprise assault inside Russia's Kursk territory -- in which 
Zelenskyy said Ukraine's army has been able to capture about 1,300 kilometers 
(800 miles) of Russian territory and kill or injure about 6,000 Russian 
soldiers -- has not drawn away President Vladimir Putin's focus from taking the 
Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, which provides critical rail and supply links for 
the Ukrainian army. Losing Pokrovsk could put additional Ukrainian cities at 
risk.

   While Kursk has put Russia on the defensive, "we know Putin's malice runs 
deep," Austin cautioned in prepared remarks to the media before the Ukraine 
Defense Contact Group met. Moscow is pressing on, especially around Pokrovsk, 
Austin said.

   Recent deadly airstrikes by Russia have renewed Zelenskyy's calls for the 
U.S. to further loosen restrictions and obtain even greater Western 
capabilities to strike deeper inside Russia. Zelenskyy also said systems that 
were promised already have been too slow to arrive.

   "The number of air defense systems that have not yet been delivered is 
significant," Zelenskyy said.

   The meeting Friday was expected to focus on resourcing more air defense and 
artillery supplies and shoring up gains on expanding Ukraine's own defense 
industrial base, to put it on more solid footing as the final days of Joe 
Biden's U.S. presidency wind down.

   Western partner nations were working with Ukraine to source a substitute 
missile for its Soviet-era S-300 air defense systems, Austin said.

   The U.S. is also focused on resourcing a variety of air-to-ground missiles 
that the newly delivered F-16 fighter jets can carry, including the Joint 
Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile, which could give Ukraine a longer-range cruise 
missile option, said Bill LaPlante, the Pentagon's top weapons buyer, who spoke 
to reporters traveling with Austin.

   No decisions on the munition have been made, LaPlante said, noting that 
policymakers would still have to decide whether to give Ukraine the 
longer-range capability.

   "I would just put JASSM in that category, it's something that is always 
being looked at," LaPlante said. "Anything that's an air-to-ground weapon is 
always being looked at."

   For the past two years, members of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group have 
met to resource Ukraine's mammoth artillery and air defense needs, ranging from 
hundreds of millions of rounds of small arms ammunition to some of the West's 
most sophisticated air defense systems, and now fighter jets. The ask this 
month was more of the same -- but different in that it was in person, and 
followed a similar in-person visit Thursday in Kyiv by Biden's Deputy National 
Security Advisor Jon Finer as Zelenskyy shores up U.S. support before the 
administration changes.

   Since 2022, the member nations together have provided about $106 billion in 
security assistance to Ukraine. The U.S. has provided more than $56 billion of 
that total.

   The German government said Chancellor Olaf Scholz plans to meet Zelenskyy in 
Frankfurt on Friday afternoon.