Ukraine, US finalise pacts on ATACMS missile systems
Kyiv, Ukraine - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country and the US finalised ‘all the details’ in the agreements on ATACMS tactical missile systems, amid talks with his American counterpart Joe Biden.
Zelensky said in an evening video address late on Monday that especially after the ‘positive shift’ in terms of American assistance to Ukraine and work to ensure the provision of weapons needed by Ukrainian soldiers, they must work to keep the situation in the front line ‘under control’ and ‘return the initiative’ to Kyiv.
Expressing that he and Biden talked in particular about this issue during their talk, Zelensky thanked his counterpart and the US Congress for their support and decision, and said: “(It) benefits our protection from Russian terror and our ability to end the war justly.”
On Saturday, the US House of Representatives passed a Us$60.8bn aid bill to Ukraine as the country continues to fight off Russia’s war that began in February 2022. Zelensky further touched upon a missile attack on the country’s eastern city of Kharkiv that struck the city’s television tower, just before talks with Biden, describing this to be ‘an intimidation’ and an effort to try to limit Kharkiv in terms of communication and access to information.
He said work is underway to restore the signal, and that different cities, including Kharkiv, and communities need air defence.
Zelensky went on to say that they also need to inflict ‘maximum damage on everything that Russia uses as a base for terror and for its military logistics’.
“I am grateful to everyone in the world who is willing to help us in this regard, and we are working with our American partners to increase our capabilities,” Zelensky said.
In this regard, Ukraine’s president outlined priorities for Kyiv, namely ‘protection of the sky, modern artillery, long-range capability, and ensuring that the American support packages arrive as quickly as possible’.
Ukraine’s president also said his country and the US have started working on a bilateral security agreement, and that they can make their potential agreement ‘a true paragon that will not only provide greater security for our people, but also help the entire course of European history proceed in the right direction and only in peace’.
Ukraine has already signed bilateral security treaties with nine other countries - the UK, Germany, Denmark, Latvia, Finland, France, Italy, Canada, and the Netherlands.
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has pledged the largest-ever military aid package to Ukraine, including more than 1,600 strike and air defence missiles, his office said.
During his visit to Poland on Tuesday, Sunak will announce a £500mn (Us$618.6mn) package for Ukraine.
The crucial package will include some 400 vehicles, 1,600 munitions and four million rounds of ammunition, according to a statement.