As Ukraine\u2019s ammunition stocks dwindle some of the country\u2019s biggest allies are expressing growing concern that it may not be able to defend itself for much longer against Russia\u2019s invasion. Group of Seven foreign ministers gathering on the Italian island of Capri will call for stronger support. <\/p>\n
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, speaking to reporters Thursday before meeting with her G-7 counterparts, said Ukraine needs more air defense urgently. \u201cThe ferry ride here was stormy and was perhaps also a sign of how stormy our times are.\u201d <\/p>\n
Ukraine is struggling to fend off military pressure from Russia in the face of a lack of ammunition and with a $61 billion US aid package stuck in Congress. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has been calling for more air defense systems to be sent to Ukraine as Kremlin troops exploit the country\u2019s weakness in that arena in order to step up missile attacks on power stations, electricity grids and residential areas across the country. <\/p>\n
\u201cWestern countries, Japan, Canada, the US, Europe, have to take quicker decisions in order to support Ukraine more because we cannot afford Putin\u2019s victory,\u201d the EU\u2019s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said at the G-7. \u201cConcrete decisions have to be taken in order to send Ukraine more air defense otherwise the electricity system of Ukraine will be destroyed, and no country can fight without electricity.\u201d<\/p>\n
The G-7 ministers will agree to step up shipments of military equipment to Kyiv and will reaffirm their \u201cunwavering determination\u201d to support Ukraine as it defends itself, according to a draft statement from the meeting seen by Bloomberg.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe express our resolve in particular to bolster Ukraine\u2019s air defense capabilities as this is the best way to save lives and protect critical infrastructure,\u201d according to the draft, which could still change. \u201cWe will also work with partners toward this end.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elsewhere in Europe, at a meeting of EU leaders in Brussels, some were voicing impatience at what they saw as a widening gulf between rhetoric and action. \u201cIf all the words that were said in the last years here in Brussels about common defense could be changed into bullets and rocket launchers,\u201d posted Poland\u2019s Prime Minister Donald Tusk to the social media site X, \u201cEurope would have become the strongest power in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Three Russian missiles hit close to the center of Chernihiv on Wednesday, killing at least 18 people and leaving more than 77 wounded. While Vladimir Putin\u2019s forces regularly shell the surrounding region that borders on Russia, missile barrages against the provincial capital, about 127 kilometers (79 miles) north of Kyiv, have been rare.<\/p>\n
Officials expressed optimism on the news that US House Speaker Mike Johnson would move ahead with new assistance for Ukraine, which has long been held up by Congress. The plan is an attempt to break a six-month-long Republican blockade of aid that has left Ukraine increasingly vulnerable to Russian assaults.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn these stormy times, it\u2019s a hopeful sign that there are now signals from the US, from the Republicans, that support for Ukraine can be continued intensively,\u201c Baerbock said.<\/p>\n
Zelenskiy has for months urged partners to replenish the depleting stocks of munitions his country needs to repel attacks from Russia, which now outguns it on the battlefield 10-to-one. NATO defense ministers will meet virtually with Zelenskiy on Friday at the Ukrainian president\u2019s request to discuss protecting Ukraine\u2019s airspace and supplying badly needed systems. <\/p>\n
Germany, which pledged to donate an additional Patriot system after Ukrainian officials renewed their pleas for more equipment, launched an appeal to collect Patriots for Ukraine and other air defense systems, including Samp\/Ts, Nasams, Hawks and Iris-Ts.<\/p>\n
In a letter sent to NATO allies this week and seen by Bloomberg, Baerbock and German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that recent Russian attacks on vital energy infrastructure have caused greater destruction than in the winter of 2022. \u201cGiven the situation that Ukraine is faced with, they are a matter of great urgency,\u201d they said of the aid.<\/p>\n
Ukraine\u2019s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba, who was also present at the G-7 meeting, called on American lawmakers \u201cto support the supplemental that will literally without exaggeration help save Ukrainians from Russian missile slaughter.\u201d <\/p>\n
The same issue was also being discussed at the meeting in Brussels, where the mood was equally dire. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe situation is very, very grave and we have to send them what they ask for, which is ammunition and air defense,\u201d Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas told reporters at the summit on Thursday. \u201cWe just can\u2019t afford that Ukraine is losing the war or the whole security situation in Europe is in grave danger.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014With assistance from Piotr Skolimowski.<\/p>\n
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