Selenski expects a clear signal from the NATO summit

Kyiv, Prague During a new trip abroad, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is campaigning for support for his country, which has been attacked by Russia, and for NATO membership. Late Thursday evening in Prague, he praised the Czech Republic for being particularly committed to military aid. “The Czech Republic and the Czech people are really helping us to bring victory closer,” Zelensky told Telegram.

Meanwhile, US media reported that Washington is now also complying with Kiev’s demands for the delivery of internationally banned cluster munitions. Selenski had repeatedly requested this.

The New York Times reported on Thursday that the US government is planning to deliver cluster munitions to Ukraine, citing unnamed government sources. The Pentagon did not want to confirm this at first. “I don’t have anything specific to announce today,” Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said. The White House had previously said it was looking into transferring cluster munitions to Ukraine. According to CNN, the plans could now be officially announced this Friday.

Cluster munitions are missiles and bombs that burst in midair over the target, scattering or releasing many small explosive devices. The type of ammunition has been criticized because a significant percentage of the explosive devices often do not detonate but remain on site as duds, thus endangering the population. Germany and many other countries have signed a treaty banning cluster munitions. The United States, however, did not sign the agreement.

“I would note that the Russians have already used cluster munitions on the battlefield,” Pentagon spokesman Ryder said. The USA had cluster munitions in their stocks. Ryder pointed out that older ammunition had a higher rate of duds. “We would carefully select bullets with a lower dud rate for which we have current test data,” Ryder said. Human rights organizations have repeatedly criticized the use of cluster munitions in the war in Ukraine.

EU wants to boost production of ammunition and missiles with lots of money

Meanwhile, on Friday night, representatives of the governments of the EU member states and the European Parliament agreed on a plan with which the European armaments industry should be given financial incentives to rapidly expand production capacities for ammunition and missiles. It was proposed by the EU Commission in May and envisages spending 500 million euros from the EU budget.

The background to the project is the difficulties of the EU states in supplying Ukraine with sufficient ground-to-ground and artillery ammunition and missiles for the defensive war against Russia. An expansion of production should now prevent further bottlenecks in the Ukrainian armed forces and also ensure that the EU states remain capable of defending themselves and can keep sufficient supplies. The agreement still needs to be confirmed by the Council of Member States and Parliament and could enter into force before the end of July.

Zelenski expects a clear signal from the NATO summit in Vilnius

Selenski expects the forthcoming NATO summit to send a clear signal for membership in the western defense alliance. “What is ideal for us? We want to be invited to NATO,” he said after meeting his Czech colleague Petr Pavel. The moment had come to demonstrate the alliance’s unity and courage. At the same time, Selenski admitted resistance. Some people are still looking to Moscow, criticized the 45-year-old.

Pavel spoke out in favor of Ukraine starting NATO accession negotiations immediately after the end of the war. “It is also in the interest of our security, it is in the interest of regional stability and economic prosperity,” emphasized the former NATO general. The Czech Republic will also work to ensure that Ukraine’s accession negotiations to the EU should begin this year.

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Selenski thanked the Czech Republic for its support, both in the form of arms deliveries and by taking in hundreds of thousands of war refugees. He acknowledged that the current counter-offensive is not progressing quickly, but one goes ahead and does not back down, he stressed. Ukraine has been fighting off a Russian invasion for almost a year and a half.

The heads of state and government of NATO meet on Tuesday and Wednesday in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius for a summit.

After political talks in the Bulgarian capital Sofia, Zelenskiy said that Kiev needed a signal at the NATO summit “to motivate Ukraine to defend Europe.” He was convinced that Ukraine would become a member of the military alliance after the war. But one sign is important right now. “That is not such a high price to pay for such war and suffering.”

This is how the Handelsblatt reports on the Ukraine war:

What will be important on Friday

Selenski is now also expected in Turkey. The Turkish state news agency Anadolu reported that he would meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul. There was initially no confirmation from the Ukrainian side.

According to Anadolu, the meeting will deal, among other things, with the agreement to ship Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea, which expires on July 17. Russia is threatening not to renew the agreement brokered by the United Nations and Turkey last summer.

More: All developments in the Ukraine war in our news blog