A visibly irked, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky demanded a fraction of the military hardware from Western nations on Saturday. He also asked whether they were afraid of Russia, a Reuters report said.
Although several nations have promised to provide anti-armour and anti-aircraft missiles along with small arms, Zelensky said he needs planes, tanks and anti-ship systems.
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In a late-night video address, the president said, “That is what our partners have, that is what is just gathering dust there. This is all for not only the freedom of Ukraine, but for the freedom of Europe.”
Ukraine needed only one per cent of NATO’s aircraft and one per cent of its tanks and would not ask for more, Zelensky said.
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“We’ve already been waiting 31 days. Who is in charge of the Euro-Atlantic community? Is it really still Moscow, because of intimidation?” the leader said.
In a statement, Zelensky’s office said, earlier in the day, he talked to Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda and expressed disappointment that Russian-made fighter aircraft in Eastern Europe had not yet been transferred to Ukraine.
“The price of procrastination with planes is thousands of lives of Ukrainians,” the office quoted him as saying.
(With inputs from agencies)
