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 a further $250 million in weaponry for Kyiv.
Zelenskiy made his first appearance at a regular 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 the 2-1/2-year-old war.
He spoke at a high-risk moment for Ukrainian forces, who have made a surprise offensive into Russia’s Kursk region even as Russian forces focus on seizing the city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine, a 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, in remarks that drew support from countries including Baltic nations Lithuania and Estonia. The latter shares a border with Russia.
Zelenskiy has long singled out allies who have supplied long-range weapons but told Kyiv they cannot use them deep inside Russia for fear of instigating a direct conflict between the West and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.
In his remarks on Friday at Ramstein, Zelenskiy said: “Russia’s attempts to draw red lines simply do not work.”
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 Western 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. “Putin is repositioning his troops in Kursk. And the Kremlin continues to bombard Ukraine’s cities and to target Ukraine’s civilians.”
The talks in Germany come as Americans prepare for a November presidential election that could have major implications for Ukraine. Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate, has promised to stand with Ukraine.
Former President Donald Trump, the Republican candidate, has vowed to resolve the Ukraine war immediately on taking office with possible peace talks that might require Kyiv to cede territory. Trump and many of his supporters are skeptical of the billions of dollars in aid Biden’s administration has poured into Ukraine’s war effort.
WAR’S TOLL
Germany pledged to supply an additional 12 self-propelled howitzers to Kyiv, while Canada said it planned to send 80,840 surplus small unarmed air-to-surface rockets as well as 1,300 warheads in the coming months.
Austin gave statistics on the toll the war has taken on Russian forces, estimating more than 350,000 Russian troops have been killed or wounded. He said Ukrainian forces have sunk, destroyed, or damaged 32 Russian Navy vessels and pushed Russia’s Black Sea Fleet further east.
Zelenskiy said that about 6,000 Russian soldiers had been killed or wounded in Ukraine’s Kursk offensive.
“Today we control an area of more than 1,300 square kilometres in the Kursk region and this includes 100 settlements,” Zelenskiy said, adding that a large part of that territory was abandoned by Russian troops.
“They simply fled when they saw our forces approaching.”
But Moscow has also been pounding cities across Ukraine with missiles and drones in some of its largest attacks since its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and Zelenskiy urged representatives from the dozens of countries attending the Ramstein talks to make good on promises to supply Kyiv with more means to foil airstrikes.
“The number of air defence systems that have not yet been delivered is significant,” Zelenskiy said.
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.
(Reporting by Phil Stewart and Sabine Siebold, additional reporting by David Ljunggren, editing by Andrey Sychev, Mark Heinrich and Angus MacSwan)