Zelenskyy Calls for Increased Pressure on Russia

Yahoo

5 days ago

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for increased international pressure on Russia after a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin where the leaders announced plans for Ukraine and Germany to jointly produce long-range weapons boosting Ukraine's ability to fight.
"There is not enough pressure," Zelenskyy told German broadcaster RTL on May 28, criticizing what he sees as insufficient commitment from global powers.
"The United States is involved, but not 100 percent. Other countries, like China and those from the Global South, are holding back," he said.
Zelenskyy also suggested a lasting peace may only be possible once Russian President Vladimir Putin is no longer in power.
"We will have a just peace, but likely only after Putin," he said.
Zelenskyy earlier on May 28 accused Russia of stalling diplomatic efforts to achieve a cease-fire.
"They (Russians) will constantly look for reasons not to end the war," Zelenskyy said at a joint news conference with Merz, adding "you can see what Putin is doing" and referring to "mass drone attacks every night."
The air strikes launched on Kyiv and other cities and regions in recent days "are not the language of peace," said Merz.
"They are a slap in the face for everyone who is working for peace, in Ukraine, in Europe, and in the United States," he added.
He said Germany would help Ukraine develop its own long-range missile systems that would be free of any Western-imposed limitations on their use and targets.
Merz said that under an intensified cooperation agreement, Germany "will strive to equip the Ukrainian Army with all the capabilities that truly enable it to successfully defend the country," including upgraded domestic missile production.
"Ukraine will be able to fully defend itself, including against military targets outside its own territory" with its own missiles, Merz said at a joint news conference.
Germany is the second-biggest individual supplier of military aid to Ukraine after the United States. But some of the advanced weapon systems have been subject to range and target restrictions over fears the Kremlin might retaliate against the country that provided the weapons and draw NATO into Europe's biggest conflict since World War II.
Later on May 28, Merz told German public broadcaster ZDF that he wouldn't rule it out sending German-made Taurus cruise missiles -- a long-range weapon that Zelenskyy has asked for -- but said it would not help Ukraine now because it would take months for Ukrainian troops to learn to use the system.
That's why Germany is improving its military cooperation and support with Ukraine now, he said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov criticized the announcement on weapons production cooperation between Germany and Ukraine.
Germany is on the same path that it moved down "a couple of times in the last century," leading to its collapse, Lavrov said on Telegram.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul responded by saying that Russia should not be able to dictate whether Ukraine's allies provide help in producing long-range weapons.
"The reality is that Russia is not provoking a war but conducting a war day by day without any right and violating international rights, so we are not in a position that Moscow has [to] educate us on international war or what we are allowed to do," Wadephul said in an interview with CNN on May 28.
"We stand with Ukraine as long as Ukraine has to defend itself, its territory, its people, and the international law against the Russian aggression," he said, adding that Germany agrees with many of its partners, especially in Eastern Europe, that "we will not have security in Europe with Russia but only against Russia."
By RFE/RL
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