The leaders of the European Union said on Thursday that they would continue to support Ukraine, but did not immediately support the call of the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to approve the package of at least five billion euros (7.8 billion dollars CDN) for artillery shopping.
“We need funds for artillery shells and would really appreciate Europe's support … as soon as possible,” said Zelenskyy, the meeting of EU leaders in Brussels via the video link.
Arriving at the summit in Brussels, the head of foreign policy of the block Kaja Kallas also called on leaders to match the words of support for Kiev with deeds when US President Donald Trump displaces his efforts to end the war, including by getting closer to Russia.
“The stronger they are on the battlefield, the stronger they are behind the negotiating table,” said Kallas about the Ukrainians.
In a statement approved by all leaders at the meeting – in addition to Hungarian Viktor Orban – they undertook “continue to provide Ukraine with regular and predictable financial support.” They also said that Member States should “urgently increase their efforts to meet the urgent military and defense needs of Ukraine.”
In an interview with US President Donald Trump, the president of Ukrainian Volodymyr Zelenskyy, apparently agreed not to direct Russian energy infrastructure for 30 days. Russia agreed to do the same for Ukraine the day before, but Zelenskyy claims that Moscow has already violated the contract.
But there was no specific response to Kallas's proposal to focus on what Zelensky says he needs urgently, for example, two million artillery shells in the cost of five billion euros (about 7.8 billion dollars CDN).
Kallas has already reduced the proposal to EUR 40 billion ($ 62.2 billion CDN) this year in Ukraine, and each country contributed to its economic size. This happened after the resistance of some countries, especially in South Europe.
Zelenskyy sheds more light on Trump's call
Zelenskyy said on Thursday that Ukrainian experts would be present during the upcoming talks with the participation of the United States and Russia, but they will not be in the same room as Russia.
The Kremlin said that Russian experts and the US are to discuss ways to ensure the security of shipping in the Black Sea during Monday talks in Saudi Arabia about a possible peace settlement.
The Ukrainian leader also said on Thursday that he did not talk to Trump with the potential ownership of the USA at the Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant Zaporizhzhia, which was occupied by Russia since she was attacked in February 2022.
According to the White House statement From the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and national security advisor Mike Waltz regarding the call of Trump-Zelenskyy on Wednesday a couple of leaders “discussed the electrical power and nuclear power plant of Ukraine.”
Zelenskyy also told journalists in Norway that Trump did not ask questions about the status of Russian Crimea during talks with him. He was asked about reports that the US President was considering recognizing the peninsula as part of Russia.
As Brussels progress progressed, older military officers from countries in Europe and outside of it met on Thursday outside London to transfer the plans of international peace forces for Ukraine.
The Prime Minister of Great Britain Keir Starmer said that the “Coalition of a willing” plan, headed by Great Britain and France, goes to the “operational phase”. It is not clear, however, how many countries are willing to send soldiers, except whether there will be any suspension of weapons at the beginning.
Preliminary reported Kursk reports
Meanwhile, Ukrainian soldiers in Kursk lost in recent days, but they are not surrounded by Russian forces, they told Reuters by three and European officials marking the intelligence assessments of their rule. This is contrary to the last comments of Trump and Putin.
American intelligence agencies, including the CIA, have shared this assessment with the White House over the past week, a US clerk and another person familiar with this matter. However, Trump still claims that the Ukrainian troops are surrounded in the Kursk region in Western Russia.
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In the social media post, on March 14, Trump said that he asked the Russian president to save the lives of thousands of Ukrainians, which, he said, were “completely surrounded” and defenseless. Putin said he would do it if they give up. Trump repeated this claim in an interview with Fox News on Tuesday.
Institute of War Studio, an American conflict monitor, said on March 14 that “he did not observe any geolocated evidence indicating that Russian forces surrounded a significant number of Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region or elsewhere along the front line in Ukraine.”
The US National Security Council did not answer the questions about the assessments of the interview, but directed Reuters to the joint statement of Rubio and Waltz.
The White House, the CIA and the Office of the National Intelligence Director refused to comment.
The Zelenskyy office and the Russian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to the request for comment.
Zelenskyy denied that Ukrainian forces were surrounded and said that Putin is lying about reality on earth. The Ukrainian leader admitted that his army is in a difficult position in Kursk and that he expected further attacks from Russia because he was trying to push Ukrainian forces from the region.
The Russian base hit
On Thursday on Thursday, Ukraine hit a large Russian strategic bomber airport with drones, causing a huge explosion and fire about 700 kilometers from the front of the war, they gave Russian and Ukrainian officials.
The films verified by Reuters showed a huge explosion spreading from the airport, destroying nearby houses. Russia The Ministry of Defense said that air defense shot down 132 Ukrainian drones to Russian regions.
Other verified films showed a huge plume of smoke rising into the sky at dawn and intense fire.
The base in Engels, which dates back to Soviet times, organizes Russian heavy strategic bombers Tupolev Tu-160, unofficially known as white swans.
The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine said that her forces hit the airport and caused secondary ammunition detonations. Kyiv said Russia used the Engels base to strike in Ukraine.
Local officials said that ten people were injured during the attack.