G7 nations urged to boost aid for Ukraine
NATO, EU cite growing threat to power grid
CAPRI, Italy — Top NATO and European Union officials urged foreign ministers from leading industrialized nations on Thursday to take quick, concrete steps to provide more air defense systems and artillery to Ukraine, warning that continued delays could tilt the war in Moscow’s favor.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell addressed a meeting of foreign ministers of G7 nations meeting on the Italian resort island of Capri. Russia’s war on Ukraine and surging tensions in the Middle East over Iran’s unprecedented attack on Israel over the weekend have topped the agenda of the gathering.
Without more Patriot air defense missile systems to protect against Russian strikes, “the electricity system of Ukraine will be destroyed. And no country can fight without having electricity at home, in the factories, in the front line,” Borrell told reporters on the sidelines of the event.
Stoltenberg welcomed signs that the U.S. Congress might soon vote on a $61 billion aid package for Ukraine, the bulk of which would go to purchasing weapons and ammunitions from US defense manufacturers. And he welcomed other recent financial pledges from the Netherlands and Denmark as well as Germany’s recent announced delivery of a new Patriot missile battery.
But he said more long-term and sustainable aid was necessary to better coordinate Ukraine’s response over the long term.
“There is an urgent, critical need for more air defense,” Stoltenberg said, adding that artillery rounds were also needed. “We cannot continue to be in a situation where Russia is outgunning Ukraine, in the way they do now. The Russians are shooting and shooting, and the Ukrainians have limited resources to shoot back. So the Ukrainians need more, and that’s the urgent and important message from me to all allies.”
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani opened the first working session by calling for new sanctions against Iran for its weekend attack and concrete help for Ukraine. “If Ukraine loses, (Russian President Vladimir) Putin will never sit at the peace table,” Tajani warned.
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, who was invited to Capri as a guest, underlined his country’s need for essential military support, including artillery, ammunition, and air defense systems as Russia pushes along the front line.
He thanked Germany for providing Ukraine with a new Patriot battery, which was announced over the weekend, but urged the US Congress to quickly approve the funding package.
“So we will work here at the ministerial level to make other allies deliver air defense systems to Ukraine. Because it’s of fundamental importance,” Kuleba said.
President Biden said Wednesday he supported a proposal from the House speaker, Mike Johnson, to provide about $61 billion in aid for Ukraine, signaling bipartisan support for the precarious funding bill.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he hoped the US funding would come through but said other allies needed to step up.
“In this moment, it is urgent that all of the friends and supporters of Ukraine maximize their efforts to provide Ukraine with what it needs to continue to effectively defend itself against this Russian aggression,” Blinken said after meeting with Kuleba.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, Polish prosecutors said a Polish man has been arrested on allegations of being ready to spy on behalf of Russia’s military intelligence in an alleged plot to assassinate Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The office of Poland’s National Prosecutor said in a statement that the man, identified only as Pawel K. under Polish privacy laws, was accused of being prepared to pass airport security information to Russian agents and that he was arrested in Poland on Wednesday.
The man was seeking contact with Russians directly involved in the war in Ukraine and was expected to pass on detailed information about the Rzeszow-Jasionka airport in southeastern Poland, near the border with Ukraine, which is the gateway for international military and humanitarian supplies for Ukraine. It also serves leaders and politicians traveling in and out of Ukraine. The airport is under the control of US troops.
The prosecutors said the arrest is the result of close cooperation with the prosecutors and security services of Ukraine, who tipped them off and who provided crucial evidence. The case is developing, they said.
And in Germany on Thursday, prosecutors said that two German-Russian men have been arrested on suspicion of espionage, one of them accused of agreeing to carry out attacks on potential targets including US military facilities in hopes of sabotaging aid for Ukraine.
NATO SECRETARY GENERAL JENS STOLTENBERG ‘We cannot continue to be in a situation where Russia is outgunning Ukraine.’