Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Germany on Friday, September 6, where Ukraine’s allies are meeting to discuss military aid at a time when the Ukrainian army is retreating in the east of the country under pressure from Russia. Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the Ukrainian president will meet today in Frankfurt (west) for “a one-on-one meeting,” a German government spokesperson told AFP, without giving further details.
Key information to remember
⇒ Ukraine’s allies gathered at the US base in Ramstein, Germany.
⇒ Putin makes the conquest of Donbass “his number one priority”
⇒ Russian agents indicted in US for cyberattacks on Ukraine
kyiv’s allies meet in Germany
Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Germany on Friday, where the “contact group” of Ukraine’s allies is meeting at Ramstein, a US air base near Frankfurt, to discuss military support for kyiv. Upon his arrival, he asked the allies for “more weapons” to push back Russia and to authorize the use of long-range weapons “on Russian territory.” Since the start of the war two and a half years ago, the defense ministers of the contact group have met regularly at Ramstein.
This time, “the focus will be on strengthening Ukraine’s air defense capabilities” as well as dedicated coalitions, “including the Air Force coalition,” Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said. Some 50 nations will be represented at the meeting, he added.
While they often reaffirm their unwavering support for Ukraine, many governments are facing divided public opinion as the war drags on. This is the case in Germany, where the far right, long criticized for its ties to the Kremlin, won a historic result on Sunday by winning a regional election in the eastern state of Thuringia. Or the United States, which has not ruled out a return to power for Donald Trump, who opposes American support for kyiv.
London and Berlin to strengthen Ukrainian air defense
The United Kingdom will supply 650 missile systems to Ukraine to help it strengthen its air defenses in the coming months, London announced on Friday, September 6, after criticism from President Zelensky about the pace of military aid deliveries to kyiv. The British Ministry of Defense said in a statement that an initial delivery of 650 “light modular missile (LMM) systems” would take place by the end of the year, as part of a 162 million pound (192 million euros) contract.
The new delivery will be announced at the meeting of Ukraine’s allies in Ramstein. These “highly versatile” missiles will be built by the French group Thales at its Belfast plant in Northern Ireland. Berlin also confirmed on Wednesday the delivery of eight Iris-T SLM air defense systems and nine of a related Iris-T SLS model by 2025, which will be in addition to those already supplied. At the NATO summit in July, the allies had also decided on the transfer of American-made F-16 fighters and new air defense systems.
Putin makes the conquest of Donbass his “number one priority”
“Priority number one”: Vladimir Putin displayed on Thursday his unwavering determination to conquer all of Donbass, the large industrial zone in eastern Ukraine, where his army continues to advance. The Russian president also said he was willing to hold talks with Kiev on the basis of those in spring 2022, if Ukraine requests it, while Moscow previously said it ruled out any discussion due to the Ukrainian attack launched in early August in the Kursk region.
Since the failure of its original offensive in 2022 against Ukraine, which was intended to be rapid, and its retreats in the northeast and south, the Russian army has adapted its objectives by concentrating its assaults on the eastern part of this country. Vladimir Putin has claimed the annexation of four Ukrainian regions in the east and south that Russian forces partially control, in addition to the Crimean peninsula in 2014. The Kremlin sets as conditions for the opening of peace negotiations the cession of these territories and that Ukraine renounces joining NATO.
Russian agents indicted in US over cyberattacks on Ukraine
U.S. prosecutors announced Thursday that they are charging five Russian military intelligence officers for their alleged involvement in a cyberattack targeting Ukrainian government websites in preparation for a 2022 invasion of that country.
The indictment targets these five agents of the GRU, the Russian military intelligence service, as well as a Russian civilian presented as a 22-year-old hacker, Amin Timovitch Stigal, already indicted in June. These six people “are responsible for the series of destructive computer attacks commonly known as Whispergate,” said at a press conference in Baltimore the American assistant secretary of state for national security, Matthew Olsen.