Ukraine’s priority is to regain control of its skies to end the war with Russia

Ukraine aims to gain control over its skies this year, the country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba said, as panellists at the World Economic Forum in Davos warned about the risk of war fatigue among European allies.

Mr Kuleba yesterday addressed a panel discussion featuring several European leaders who stressed the need to sustain support for Ukraine, including Hungarian President Katalin Novak, who warned “Russia cannot win”.

During the first year of the war Ukraine liberated half of the territory that had been occupied by Russia, Mr Kuleba said. Last year it forced the Russian Black Sea fleet from its territorial waters.

This year would be when it “throws Russia from the skies”, he added.

“Because the one who controls the skies will define when and how the war will end,” Mr Kuleba said.

His comments came as Kyiv said that Russia had launched 20 Iranian-made Shahed drones at infrastructure in southern Ukraine overnight and that its air defence systems had destroyed all but one of them. Ukrainian authorities said 20 people were injured in Russian attacks on the cities of Kharkiv and Odesa.

Polish President Andrzej Duda said war fatigue was “a very risky phenomenon” that allies had to work to prevent.

“Perhaps it is not very politically correct. Perhaps some people are afraid to say it out loud that this is the case. This war fatigue is visible,” he said, citing the disappearance of coverage of the war from the news agenda.

Mr Kuleba said Ukrainians were tired but would not stop fighting.

“It doesn’t matter how tired or exhausted we will be,” he said. “We will keep defending our country.”

Ms Novak was questioned on Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s use of the country’s EU veto on the bloc’s budget to help Ukraine.

“I have already made it very clear that I condemn the Russian aggression,” she said.

“If we want to try to preserve our post-Second World War desire for peace, then we have to clarify that war is never the solution and aggression is never the solution.

“I think Russia cannot win. We have to further support Ukraine.”

Andrej Plenkovic, Prime Minister of Croatia, said EU members should be “persistent” in assisting Ukraine.

He said the EU is now in the process of formalising its regular financial support to the nation.

“It would be very good politically if we could do it in the framework of 27 [EU members] all together,” said Mr Plenkovic. “But if we don’t I’m sure we’ll find a legal and technical way to do it and ensure this consistency of assistance to Ukraine.”

Speaking at a later session, Britain’s Foreign Secretary Lord David Cameron said he was confident Ukraine would receive the financial support needed this year, despite similar divisions over financing in the US.

In December, the US announced about $250 million of arms and equipment for Ukraine in what Congress warned was its final package.

“This is not just about Ukraine’s security. This is fundamentally about European security, but also about American security,” Lord Cameron said.

“History demonstrates to us that if you appease an aggressor in Europe, the aggressor comes back for more.

“If an aggressor comes back for more the price you eventually pay in your own troops and the cost to your country gets higher and higher.”

Lord Cameron said there was also “growing legal support” for using seized Russian assets to fund the war in Ukraine.

“I think the moral argument is at the end of the day quite straightforward, which is that at the end of the day, Russia is going to have to pay reparations for its invasion, so why not spend some of the money now rather than wait until the war is over and then have all the legal wrangling about reparations,” he said.

Yesterday, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said she was confident that all 27 member states would extend more financial aid to Ukraine.

Last month, EU leaders agreed to start accession talks with Ukraine, but Mr Orban, who is widely seen as an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, vetoed an initiative to grant €50 billion ($54.3 billion) in aid to Kyiv until 2027.

The bloc’s leaders will meet again in Brussels next month to try to agree on further financial assistance to Kyiv, which relies heavily on western support to defend itself against Russia.