The President of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelenski, obtained this Sunday new promises to deliver military material, in addition to the “unwavering” diplomatic support of the G7 countries in Hiroshima (Japan), after Russia claimed the seizure of Bakhmut, denied by Ukraine .
The Ukrainian head of state arrived in Hiroshima on Saturday, where he met with the leaders of the seven most industrialized Western economies (the United States, Canada, Japan, France, the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy) to convince them to continue increasing support for his country and, in parallel, persuade the leaders of the important non-aligned countries present at the meeting – India, Brazil and Indonesia – to reconsider their position.
The Ukrainian president was resoundingly successful in the first line of action, that concerning the allies, who showed an unwavering commitment to the Ukrainian cause.
US President Joe Biden promised Kiev new shipments of arms, ammunition and armored vehicles worth some $375 million, days after allowing his allies to supply F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine.
Although Zelensky “absolutely assured” that the F-16 fighter jets that Kiev will receive will not attack Russian territory, as Biden declared after approving the delivery of these fighters, the Ukrainian President described the US decision as “historic” and said that it would “greatly improve his army in heaven.”
This is a sizeable contingent of fighter jets, which Western and Ukrainian military analysts say are key as Ukraine’s air force needs modern Western fighter jets and missiles to sustainably counter Russian jets, which have a increased firepower, and to hold their own against the Russian juggernaut, which has used bombers relentlessly to destroy major cities like Mariupol and Bakhmut.
Ukraine’s combined fleet, which belongs to the air and ground forces, is currently estimated to have been reduced by more than a third since the Russian invasion began. Ukraine has lost at least 60 of its 145 fixed-wing aircraft and 32 of its 139 helicopters, according to US military information that was among classified material leaked on social media platform Discord in recent months.
And while the Ukrainian air force rarely discloses numbers about its fleet, officials have acknowledged some losses over the course of the war, as well as difficulties with repairing and replacing damaged planes.
Hence Zelensky’s diplomatic crusade, between allied and non-allied countries, is key to ensuring international support that is evident on the ground.
Charles Kupchan, senior fellow of the European Council on Foreign Relations, assured this newspaper that the Ukrainian president’s meeting with the leaders of the main powers is key “for his next offensive.”
“Zelensky’s appearance at the G7 reinforces the group’s support for Ukraine, putting the country in a strong position for its next offensive. While the decision to start training Ukrainian pilots for F-16s will have no bearing on this offensive, as it takes time to complete the training. The green light for them to get this type of aircraft will help Ukraine defend itself along the way, an important step given that the war could be long and Russia needs to be deterred from further efforts to subjugate Ukraine,” Kupchan added.
Zelensky’s appearance at the G7 reinforces the group’s support for Ukraine, putting the country in a strong position ahead of its next offensive.
Russia responded to the meeting by assuring that the G7 leaders “invited the head of the Kiev regime, which they control, to their meeting and turned the Hiroshima event into a propaganda spectacle.”
In turn, Biden assured that the Western countries that support Kiev “will not waver” in the face of the Russian offensive in Ukraine. “Putin will not break our resolve (to support kyiv) as he believed he could,” he noted.
No meeting with Lula
Zelensky’s presence in Hiroshima placed the Russian invasion of Ukraine at the center of the G7 debates, eclipsing other issues such as allied relations with China.
In their successive meetings, Zelensky tried to rally support for a ten-point peace plan, focused on demanding that Russia withdraw from Ukrainian territory.
But the Ukrainian President’s diplomatic offensive was not entirely round: the Brazilian President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, did not meet his Ukrainian counterpart face to face.
Lula, who has been reluctant to condemn the Russian invasion, caused some controversy last month by declaring that the United States should stop “encouraging war.”
But, vilifying the violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and calling for dialogue in group discussions, the Brazilian President yesterday criticized the countries of the United Nations Security Council, whose permanent members are the US, Russia, China , France and UK.
“The permanent members carry on the long tradition of waging unauthorized wars, whether for the purposes of territorial expansion or regime change,” he said, alluding to the 2003 US-led coalition invasion of Iraq.
Zelenski indicated that he had not been able to meet with Lula due to an incompatibility of agendas.
Asked if he was disappointed not to have been able to speak directly with the Brazilian president, Zelenski replied: “I think he is the one who is disappointed.”
With whom he did meet was the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, who declared that India will do “everything possible” to resolve the conflict.
Both the German head of government, Olaf Scholz, and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, reiterated their support for Ukraine. The latter assured that the presence of the Ukrainian President in the G7 is “a way of building peace.”
The foreign ministers of the European Union will try today to unlock a new tranche of aid from the European Peace Support Fund (Feap), intended to co-finance part of the weapons that the countries of the European Union (EU) deliver to Ukraine.
The EU has already assigned 3,600 million euros to Feap, but now they must convince the Hungarian government to unlock the next stage, since that country announced that it will block the new disbursement as long as Kiev remains on the list of international sponsors of the war at the highest bank of the Central European country, the OTP.
Zelenski, who left Hiroshima yesterday, according to the Japanese public channel NHK, added his high-level diplomatic offensive to the meeting he held at the end of last week with the main Arab leaders after his speech at the Arab League summit, where criticized some of its members for turning “blind” to the Russian invasion.
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
Ukraine denies the capture of Bakhmut claimed by Russia
Although the Russian Wagner paramilitary group, whose troops were on the front line in the fighting, and the Russian Defense Ministry assured on Saturday that Bakhmut had been “totally liberated”, Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky denied this information yesterday.
Russian troops are in Bakhmut, but “the city is not occupied,” Zelensky declared on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan.
“Bajmut is not occupied by Russia today,” Zelensky declared at a press conference, adding that “there is nothing left there” and comparing the situation in that city with that of Hiroshima after the explosion of the atomic bomb. “There is absolutely nothing alive, all the buildings are destroyed (…) Absolute and total destruction,” he said.
During the last months, that town became the epicenter of the fighting in the war launched by Russia in February 2022.
Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Ganna Maliar said Kiev forces had “partially surrounded” Bakhmut to the north and south of the city, which “makes the enemy’s presence very difficult” and indicated that Ukrainian forces remain in control. some industrial facilities and infrastructures”.
The capture of Bakhmut, which in recent months had been 90 percent conquered by the Russians, was claimed on Saturday by Wagner’s boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who assured that he would hand over control of the city to the Russian army on Thursday.
Yesterday, Prigozhin insisted that Bakhmut was taken “to the last inch” within its “legal borders.” “There is not a single Ukrainian soldier in Bakhmut,” he stressed.
Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Wagner’s fighters and the Russian army for “the achievement of the operation to liberate” Bakhmut and promised to reward the military who distinguished themselves.
If Bakhmut’s fall is confirmed, it would allow Russia to score a key victory after a series of humiliating defeats, just as Ukraine says it is preparing a major counter-offensive with Western-supplied weapons.
Moscow and kyiv are believed to have suffered heavy losses in Bakhmut, a city that before the war had some 70,000 inhabitants and is now largely destroyed by fighting.
The battle for that city also gave rise to an open conflict between Wagner’s chief and the Russian General Staff, which Yevgeny Prigozhin accuses of not having supplied enough ammunition.
AFP
kyiv
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