KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy increased pressure on the United States to let Kyiv strike deeper into Russian territory after his representatives met senior US officials in Washington on Saturday (Aug 31).
Washington has provided Ukraine with more than US$50 billion worth of military aid since 2022, but has limited the use of its weapons to Ukrainian soil and defensive crossborder operations.
“Clearing the Ukrainian sky of Russian guided aerial bombs is a strong step to force Russia to seek an end to the war and a just peace,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address.
Appealing to the United States, Britain, France and Germany, he said, “We need the capabilities to truly and fully protect Ukraine and Ukrainians.
“We need both the permissions for long-range capabilities and your long-range shells and missiles.”
Without providing specifics, he said his representatives had “provided all the necessary details” to Ukraine’s partners.
Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, in Washington with a delegation on Friday and Saturday to meet US officials and experts, said in an interview broadcast by CNN that Kyiv was showing Russian airfields used to hit Ukrainian cities were within range of deep strikes.
“We have explained what kind of capabilities we need to protect the citizens against the Russian terror that Russians are causing us, so I hope we were heard,” Umerov said in the interview late on Friday.
Source: CNA
