After calling for 'more weapons' in Germany, Zelensky arrives in Italy

Photo: Piero Cruciatti Agence France-Presse The Ukrainian leader is expected to continue to advocate for his country at the European House — Ambrosetti economic forum in Cernobbio.

Brigitte Hagemann – Agence France-Presse and W.G. Dunlop – Agence France-Presse respectively in Cernobbio, Italy, and

Published on September 6

• Europe

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Italy on Friday after launching a vibrant appeal for more weapons from his allies gathered in Germany at a time when Moscow is advancing on the eastern front.

The Ukrainian leader must continue to plead his country's cause at the economic forum The European House — Ambrosetti, in Cernobbio (north), a sort of mini-Davos. He will meet in particular with the Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni.

Also on site, the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, who has remained close to the Kremlin despite the war in Ukraine, whose country holds the EU presidency and who has said he hopes to meet the Ukrainian leader.

During their last face-to-face meeting in Kiev at the beginning of July, Mr. Orban had called on Mr. Zelensky to consider a “rapid ceasefire,” illustrating their differences, but also those existing between Budapest and most Europeans.

The Hungarian reiterated his calls for a ceasefire on Friday, which Zelensky immediately rejected. “A lot of people are talking about a ceasefire right now,” but Russian President Vladimir Putin has never kept his past commitments to silence the guns. Each time, “they started killing us again on the contact line,” he said.

Coming for the first time to the meeting of international supporters in Kiev, in western Germany, Volodymyr Zelensky demanded from his allies “more weapons” to push back Russian forces, “in particular in the Donetsk region,” to the east.

He then met Chancellor Olaf Scholz not far from there, in Frankfurt, for a meeting focused in particular on “the common search for a just and lasting peace for Ukraine,” according to the chancellery.

Long-range missiles

Two and a half years after the launch of the Russian invasion, Ukraine is struggling: its offensive that began in early August on Russian territory, in the Kursk region, has not helped to stop Moscow's advance in the East.

Moscow is increasing its deadly bombings, such as the recent one on a military institute in Poltava, in central Ukraine, which left at least 55 dead.

On Friday, a salvo of Russian missiles left at least one dead and forty injured on Friday in Pavlograd and ravaged a residential building in this city in central-eastern Ukraine, according to the authorities.

At the US air base in Ramstein, Mr Zelensky reiterated his demand to be able to use long-range weapons supplied by his partners “not only on the occupied territory of Ukraine, but also on Russian territory” to destroy the bases from which Moscow launches its missiles.

In Italy, he maintained that under no circumstances would these weapons be used to strike civilians or non-military targets, even if “they are our enemies, because they support Putin’s policy”.

Several major countries, including his two main arms suppliers, the United States and Germany, nevertheless continue to balk for fear of an escalation with Moscow, which regularly raises the nuclear threat.

“I don’t think that any single specific capability will be decisive,” the US Secretary of State said. Defense Minister Lloyd Austin, after the meeting, said that Ukraine should rely on the combination of different weapons.

His German counterpart, Boris Pistorius, said Berlin’s position on the matter was unchanged.

New military aid

Lloyd Austin announced $250 million in new military aid that “will help increase capabilities to meet Ukraine’s changing needs.”

“Moscow is continuing its offensive in eastern Ukraine, particularly around Pokrovsk. And the Kremlin is continuing to bomb Ukrainian cities and target Ukrainian civilians. “It's a scandal,” Mr Austin said.

London also announced a £162 million (C$288 million) contract for 650 lightweight short-range multirole missiles, which can be fired from a variety of land, sea and air platforms.

Mr. Pistorius himself announced the delivery of twelve Type 2000 howitzers, six of which will be delivered this year and the rest in 2025, for a total of 150 million euros. Berlin confirmed on Wednesday new deliveries of Iris-T air defense systems that should help intercept Russian missiles.

Since the start of the war, the defense ministers of the contact group have met regularly in Ramstein to discuss with military representatives support for Kiev.

“Ukraine needs increased military support,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in Oslo, calling on “all allies to continue their vital support, particularly in this difficult phase of the war.”

While they regularly reaffirm their unwavering solidarity, many governments are faced with divided public opinion as the war drags on.

kyiv is all the more concerned because the time of large aid packages from the United States, where a return to power by Donald Trump is not excluded, seems to be over and because France, which with Berlin makes up the leading duo of the EU, has been embroiled in an internal political crisis for weeks.