New Delhi: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a fervent appeal to the West Thursday as leaders met in Brussels for a day of emergency summits of NATO, G7 and the European Union.
In a virtual address to NATO, Zelenskyy said, “You can give us one per cent of all your planes. One percent of all your tanks. One percent!” He did not, however, reiterate his usual demand for a no-fly zone over Ukraine.
US President Joe Biden has joined western leaders in Brussels Thursday to impose more punishment for Russia and aid for Ukraine. Biden tweeted: “We’ll continue to support Ukraine with security assistance to fight aggression and uphold their right of self-defence.”
Biden further said: “I met with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg today to address Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine. We discussed the unity and strength of the alliance, NATO’s ongoing efforts to deter and defend against any aggression, and our support for Ukraine.”
A White House readout said the US sanctioned over 400 Russian elites, Duma members, and defence companies in coordination with the G7 and the European Union. “US has now sanctioned over 600 targets,” the factsheet read.
Biden said these men and companies “personally gain from Kremlin’s policies, and they should share in the pain”.
The White House further said: “Our sanctions on Russia are unprecedented — in no other circumstance have we moved so swiftly and in such a coordinated fashion to impose devastating costs on any other country.”
The West will also continue “to blunt the Central Bank’s ability to deploy international reserves, including gold, to prop up the Russian economy and fund Putin’s brutal war”.
The US said Thursday it would give more than $1 billion in humanitarian aid to people affected by the conflict. The country will welcome up to 100,000 Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s invasion.
Before the western leaders met, Zelenskyy had said these three summits would “see who is our friend, who is our partner and who sold us out and betrayed us”.
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