NATO chief Mark Rutte and Kyiv’s top allies vowed Wednesday they would not lose sight of Ukraine’s conflict with Russia and called on others to urgently boost their support for the country.
With the outbreak of the US-Israeli war against Iran, fears have grown that international support for Kyiv is waning, more than four years since Moscow’s full-scale invasion.
American-led talks to end Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II have stalled since the start of the Middle East war, at a time US support for Ukraine was already weakening under US President Donald Trump.
But Rutte and defence ministers from Kyiv’s key allies, including Germany and Britain, insisted alongside their Ukrainian counterpart at a meeting in Berlin that their backing was undiminished.
Russian President Vladimir Putin wants the “world to think that those who stand with Ukraine have grown weary or distracted,” British Defence Secretary John Healey told a press conference after the talks.
“The truth is, our support continues steadfast,” added Healey, announcing London would supply Ukraine with 120,000 drones, which have taken on a central role in the war.
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius added that the gathering in Berlin “demonstrates our unity and our determination”.
Other pledges of military aid at the meeting included more missiles from Germany, which has become Ukraine’s biggest backer as US support has weakened, and drones from the Netherlands.
– ‘Too few sharing burden’ –
But Rutte also emphasised that all of Kyiv’s allies needed to step up.
It came a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky complained that US peace negotiators “have no time for Ukraine” because of the Middle East conflict.
“We cannot lose sight of Ukraine,” stressed Rutte, adding that “too few countries share too much of the burden”.
“All allies must invest more to achieve the target of $60 billion of security and defence support to Ukraine this year,” Rutte added.
Boosting Ukraine’s air defences as well as supplies of drones, missiles and long-range artillery ammunition were priorities, he said.
Asked about concerns that supplies of US missiles to Ukraine could be affected by the Iran war, Rutte insisted that Washington understood it needed to continue supporting Kyiv.
“We have to make sure that Ukraine has what it needs to stay in the fight,” said the NATO chief. “There is a broad agreement on that, on both sides of the Atlantic.”
Ties between Trump and NATO have been severely strained in recent times, with the US president repeatedly railing against other members of the alliance for their failure to join in his war against Iran.
Ukrainian Defence Mykhailo Fedorov said that Ukraine had just endured “one of the most difficult” winters in its history, during which Russia targeted the country with hundreds of ballistic missiles and thousands of drones.
“But Ukraine endured,” he added, saying greatly strengthened air defences had helped repel many of the attacks.
Wednesday’s meeting of defence ministers came a day after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Zelensky announced a strategic partnership during talks in Berlin.
The partnership will be centred on defence as Europe seeks to learn from Ukrainian battlefield expertise, especially in drone warfare.
Add Comment