By Phil Stewart and Sabine Siebold
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany (Reuters) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged Western allies on Friday to ignore Moscow’s “red lines” and allow Kyiv to use long-range weapons for strikes on Russian territory, as Washington pledged another $250 million in weaponry for Kyiv.
Zelenskiy made his first appearance at a U.S.-hosted gathering of Ukraine’s allies at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, and sought to present the long-range strike options as another way to pressure Russia to end its 2-1/2-year-old invasion.
He spoke at a high-risk moment for Ukrainian forces, which launched a surprise offensive into Russia’s Kursk region even as Russian forces are laser-focused on seizing the city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine, a key logistics hub for Kyiv’s war effort.
“We need to have this long-range capability not only on the occupied territory of Ukraine, but also on Russian territory, yes, so that Russia is motivated to seek peace,” Zelenskiy said.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin pointed to the Kursk offensive as an example of how Ukraine was working to seize the battlefield initiative. “The Kremlin’s army of aggression is now on the defensive on its own turf,” Austin said.
Still, Austin’s remarks appeared more focused on the broader effort to sustain Ukraine’s campaign to repel Russian forces from its territory, including an announcement of another $250 million in security assistance.
“Putin’s malice runs deep. Moscow is continuing its offensive in the east of Ukraine, especially around Pokrovsk,” Austin said.
“(Russian President Vladimir) Putin is repositioning his troops in Kursk. And the Kremlin continues to bombard Ukraine’s cities and to target Ukraine’s civilians.”
Zelenskiy is expected to travel to the U.S. this month and hopes to present a “victory plan” to President Joe Biden. Still, with the war grinding on and the Kursk incursion having failed so far to divert Russian forces from inside Ukraine, it is unclear whether the advance into Russian territory will pay off.
Russian forces, which control 18% of Ukraine, have been gradually advancing in the east since the failure of Kyiv’s 2023 counter-offensive to achieve a major breakthrough.
The Kremlin has said conditions for peace talks with Ukraine do not now exist. But Putin has named China, India and Brazil as potential mediators and repeated his view that an initial deal reached in the first weeks of the war at talks in Istanbul, which was never implemented, could serve as a basis for talks.
(Reporting by Phil Stewart and Sabine Siebold, editing by Andrey Sychev and Mark Heinrich)
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