WESTERN PERSPECTIVE
Ukraine needs more weapons faster, Zelenskiy says
Ukraine needs new weapons and faster deliveries to confront a "very tough" situation of constant attacks by Russian forces in the eastern Donetsk region, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday.
"The situation is very tough. Bakhmut, Vuhledar and other sectors in Donetsk region -- there are constant Russian attacks. There are constant attempts to break through our defences," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address.
"Russia wants the war to drag on and exhaust our forces. So we have to make time our weapon. We have to speed up events, speed up supplies and open up new weapons options for Ukraine."
The General Staff of Ukraine's armed forces said earlier on Sunday that its forces repelled an attack near Blahodatne in the eastern part of the Donetsk region, while Russia's Wagner private military group said it took control of the village.
A later military statement made no mention of Blahodatne.
Zelenskiy issued his latest appeal for increased weapons shipments days after Germany and the United States led a list of countries agreeing to supply modern tanks.
Zelenskiy on Saturday said Ukraine needed the U.S.-made ATACMS missile with a range of about 300 km, which Washington has so far declined to supply. A presidential adviser said talks were under way on supplying long-range missiles and a Ukrainian air force spokesman spoke of negotiations on providing aircraft.
In his latest remarks, Zelenskiy Ukraine's command was committed to ensuring that "our pressure is greater than the occupiers' capacity to attack" and that meant "maintaining the defence support from our partners".
"The enemy takes no account of its personnel and despite the extent of the losses is maintaining the intensity of its attacks," he said.
"Confronting this requires extraordinary resilience and a full awareness by our soldiers that in defending Donetsk region they are defending all of Ukraine."
RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE
Germany warns against ‘competition’ over Ukraine aid
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has voiced discontent over constant debates about Western arms deliveries for Ukraine, claiming that they undermine authorities’ credibility in the eyes of ordinary citizens.
In an interview published on Sunday by Tagesspiegel newspaper, Scholz was asked to comment on Ukraine’s demand for Western warplanes, which came after the US and Germany approved the delivery of M1 Abrams and Leopard 2 tanks, respectively.
Despite France and the US not ruling out such assistance, the chancellor stated that for Germany “the question of combat aircraft does not arise at all.”
“I can only advise against entering into a constant outbidding competition when it comes to weapon systems,” Scholz said. According to him, as soon as Berlin makes a decision on a weapons shipment to Ukraine, “the next debate begins in Germany.”
These kinds of public deliberations “do not seem serious and shake the confidence of the citizens in government decisions,” the chancellor said, arguing that “such debates should not be conducted for reasons of domestic political profiling.”
He also pushed back on the notion that Germany would eventually cave in to pressure to deliver fighter planes, as it did with tanks.
“It wasn’t like that, I expressly don’t share your account. We are always guided by what Ukraine needs on the one hand and what our most important allies can provide on the other hand,” Scholz stressed, reiterating Germany’s position that when it comes to helping Ukraine, Berlin does not act alone, but “together with its allies and partners.”
Ukraine has repeatedly called on Western countries to support it with modern Western-made jets, but no country has so far indulged the request.
While Germany has provided Ukraine with numerous military assets to fight Russia, also promising to send fourteen Leopard 2 tanks, Berlin has signaled that it does not plan to supply Kiev with modern warplanes.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius explained that “fighter aircraft are much more complex systems” than tanks and have “a completely different range and firepower.” Such a delivery would “venture into dimensions that I would currently warn against,” he said.
Russia has repeatedly warned the West against furnishing Ukraine with more weapons, arguing it will only prolong the conflict. Last month, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the West had been “directly involved” in the Ukraine conflict by providing weapons and training its military personnel outside the country.
** NATO ready for direct confrontation with Russia — official
Chair of the NATO Military Committee Rob Bauer said that the US-led bloc is ready for a direct confrontation with Russia in an interview with Portugal’s RTP TV channel.
Replying to a question on the matter, he asserted: "We are ready." That said, he added that NATO is going to respond only if Russia crosses the red line by invading one of NATO member states.
The military official stressed that NATO should be better prepared because currently Russia has the military initiative. "The fact that your enemy has better weapons is not the problem of the enemy. That is your problem," he said.
The interview also raised the issue of introducing "a war-time economy but in peace time," however, Bauer admitted that this process would be difficult.
** Ukrainian troops hit bridge in Zaporozhye region from HIMARS systems
Ukrainian troops have shelled a bridge across the Molochnaya River in the Zaporozhye region from HIMARS multiple rocket launchers, casualties among civilians have been reported, Vladimir Rogov, leader of the We are Together with Russia movement, said on Sunday.
"At about 12: 30 Moscow time today, terrorists delivered a strike from HIMARS multiple rocket launchers at a bridge across the Molochnaya River in the settlement of Svetlodolinskoye in the Zaporozhye region," he wrote on his Telegram channel. "There are casualties among civilians."
Reuters/RT/TASS
