RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany, Sept 6 (Askume) – U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned on Friday that “no capability” can turn the war in Ukraine in Kiev’s favour, after President Vladimir Zelensky urged the West to allow him to do so.
At a regular meeting of Ukrainian colleagues at the US Air Force base in Ramstein, Germany, Zelensky once again called on Western countries to provide more long-range missiles and lift a ban on the use of such missiles to attack targets such as airports in Russia.
Austin said Washington and its allies would continue to provide strong support to Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression and announced $250 million in additional security assistance.
But when asked by reporters, the Pentagon chief rejected the idea that allowing the use of Western weapons to strike deep into Russia would be a game-changer.
He said Russia has sent aircraft to Ukraine to launch glide bombs that are beyond the range of ATACM missiles provided by the United States.
“No single capability, by itself, will be decisive in this operation,” Austin told reporters at the end of the meeting.
He also said Ukraine has its own capabilities, such as drones, that allow it to strike targets in Russia that are beyond the range of ATACMS and UK-provided Storm Shadow missiles.
“Russia has a lot of goals — obviously, it’s a big country,” Austin said. “Ukraine has strong capabilities in drones and other areas to achieve those goals.”
Among other donations, Germany pledged to provide Kiev with 12 additional self-propelled howitzers, while Canada said it would provide an additional 80,840 small unarmed air-to-surface rockets and 1,300 weapons in the coming months.
Zelensky’s first appearance at the Ramstein conference came at a crucial moment in the two-and-a-half-year war.
Ukrainian forces launched a surprise offensive in Russia’s Kursk region, while Russian forces focused on capturing the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, a logistics hub for the war on Kiev.
“We need long-range capabilities not only in the occupied territories of Ukraine, but also across Russian territory to motivate Russia to make peace,” Zelenskyy said, according to several countries.
“Red Line”
Zelensky has long opposed providing long-range weapons to allies, but he told Kiev it cannot use them inside Russia because he fears it would anger the West and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Russia’s attempts to draw red lines will not work,” Zelenskyy said in a speech in Ramstein on Friday.
The talks in Germany come as the United States prepares for presidential elections in November and could have significant consequences for Ukraine. Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris promised to stand with Ukraine.
Republican candidate and former President Donald Trump has vowed to resolve the Ukraine war through potential peace talks once he takes office, which could require Kiev to give up territory. Trump and many of his supporters are skeptical of the billions of dollars in aid the Biden administration is sending to fund the Ukraine war.
At Ramstein, Austin provided figures for Russian military losses in the war, estimating that more than 350,000 Russian troops were killed or wounded. He said Ukrainian forces had sunk, destroyed or damaged 32 Russian naval vessels and pushed the Russian Black Sea Fleet eastward.
Zelensky said about 6,000 Russian soldiers were killed or wounded in the Kursk offensive in Ukraine.
“Today, we control more than 1,300 square kilometres of land, including 100 settlements in the Kursk region,” Zelensky said, adding that a large part of the area had been abandoned by Russian forces.
But Moscow is attacking cities across Ukraine with missiles and drones in its biggest assault since the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
“The number of air defense systems not yet delivered is quite large,” Zelensky said.
