Ukraine President reveals 'scariest thing during a war'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has made an impassioned plea to world leaders for more military aid as officials gather for a trio of summits to discuss countering Russia's month-old invasion of its much smaller neighbour.

Thursday's (early Friday AEDT) extraordinary series of summits — hosted by NATO, the Group of Seven industrialised nations and the European Union — reflected alarm that the conflict shows no sign of ending soon and could even spread beyond Ukraine's borders.

As Europe faces its greatest crisis in generations, Western leaders continue the search for ways to increase pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin while avoiding steps that could lead to a wider war on the continent.

Mr Zelenskyy, addressing the NATO gathering by video from Kyiv, called for "military assistance without limitations" as Russia is "without limits using its entire arsenal."

He pleaded for anti-air and anti-ship weapons, asking "is it possible to survive in such a war without this?"

"It feels like we're in a grey area, between the West and Russia, defending our common values," he said in his video address to the summit.

"This is the scariest thing during a war — not to have clear answers to requests for help!"

While the Ukrainian President thanked Western nations for the support they already have provided, his frustration was clear.

He urged NATO to provide Ukraine with "one per cent of all your planes, one per cent of all your tanks."

"We can't just buy those," Mr Zelenskyy said.

"When we will have all this, it will give us, just like you, 100 per cent security."

US President Joe Biden, who is attending all three summits, said more aid was on its way.

"We are committed to identifying additional equipment, including air defence systems, to help Ukraine," Mr Biden said in a written statement after the NATO meeting.

Billions of dollars of military hardware has already been provided. A US official, who requested anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said Western nations were discussing the possibility of providing anti-ship weapons amid concerns that Russia will launch amphibious assaults along the Black Sea coast.

The White House announced that the US will welcome 100,000 Ukrainian refugees and provide an additional US$1 billion ($1.33 billion) in food, medicine, water and other supplies.

Washington will expand its sanctions on Russia and work with other Western nations to ensure gold reserves held by Russia's central bank are subjected to existing sanctions.

With Russia facing increasing international isolation, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned China against coming to its rescue.

"They should join the rest of the world and clearly condemn the brutal war against Ukraine and not support Russia," either with economic or military support, he said after the closed-door meeting.

He told the leaders seated at a large round table "we gather at a critical time for our security".

"We are united in condemning the Kremlin's unprovoked aggression and in our support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity," he said."

Mr Stoltenberg said the alliance is "determined to continue to impose costs on Russia to bring about the end of this brutal war."

The possibility that Russia will use chemical or even nuclear weapons has been a grim topic of conversation in Brussels, but a possibility leaders were preparing for.

Biden has said that possibility is a "real threat." In addition, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told CNN this week that Russia could consider using its nuclear weapons if it felt there was "an existential threat for our country."

A senior European diplomat said Western leaders would continue having quiet discussions on how to respond if Russia resorts to what would be the world's first use of a tactical nuclear weapon.

The Russian invasion has spurred European nations to reconsider their military spending, and Mr Stoltenberg opened the NATO summit by saying the alliance must "respond to a new security reality in Europe."

While the West has been largely unified in confronting Russia after it invaded Ukraine, there's wide acknowledgement that unity will be tested as the costs of war chip at the global economy.

The bolstering of forces along NATO's eastern flank, almost certainly for at least the next five to 10 years if Russia is to be effectively dissuaded, will also put pressure on national budgets.

"We need to do more, and therefore we need to invest more. There is a new sense of urgency and I expect that the leaders will agree to accelerate the investments in defence," Mr Stoltenberg said before the summit.

The energy crisis exacerbated by the war will be a particularly hot topic at the European Council summit, where leaders from Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece are hoping for an urgent, coordinated bloc-wide response.

EU officials have said they will seek US help on a plan to top up natural gas storage facilities for next winter, and they also want the bloc to jointly purchase gas.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has dismissed calls to boycott Russian energy supplies, saying it would cause significant damage to his country's economy.

Mr Scholz is facing pressure from environmental activists to quickly wean Germany off Russian energy, but he said the process will have to be gradual.

"To do so from one day to the next would mean plunging our country and all of Europe into recession," he said on Wednesday.

Poland and other eastern flank NATO countries will also be looking for clarity on how the United States and fellow European nations can assist in dealing with their growing concerns about Russian aggression as well as a spiralling refugee crisis.

More than 3.5 million refugees have fled Ukraine in recent weeks, including more than 2 million to Poland.

Mr Biden is scheduled to visit Poland on Friday, where both issues are expected to be at the centre of talks with President Andrzej Duda.

Another significant moment could come shortly before he returns to Washington on Saturday. The White House said he plans to "deliver remarks on the united efforts of the free world to support the people of Ukraine, hold Russia accountable for its brutal war, and defend a future that is rooted in democratic principles."

Mr Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan said the President and fellow leaders would aim to "set out a longer-term game plan" for what forces and capabilities are going to be required for the alliance's eastern flank countries.

Four new NATO battle-groups, which usually number between 1000-1500 troops, are being set up in Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria.

Mr Zelenskyy said late Wednesday he wants the alliance to "declare that it will fully assist Ukraine to win this war" by supplying any weapons necessary.

Ursula von der Leyen, head of the European Union's executive arm, said before Biden's visit that she wants to discuss the possibility of securing extra deliveries of liquefied natural gas from the US for the 27-nation bloc "for the next two winters."

The EU imports 90 per cent of the natural gas used to generate electricity, heat homes and supply industry, with Russia supplying almost 40 per cent of EU gas and a quarter of its oil. The bloc is looking at ways to reduce its dependence on Russian gas by diversifying suppliers.

Mr Sullivan said the United States was looking for ways to "surge" LNG supplies to Europe to help.

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March 24, 2022 at 07:20PM
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