Current:Home > NewsUkraine’s president in Estonia on swing through Russia’s Baltic neighbors-InfoLens
Ukraine’s president in Estonia on swing through Russia’s Baltic neighbors
View Date:2024-12-23 17:04:52
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was in the capital of Estonia on Thursday for meetings with the country’s leaders on the second day of trip through the small Baltic states, where concern is high about aggression from neighboring Russia.
Zelenskyy arrived in Tallinn late Wednesday after beginning his Baltic swing in Lithuania. He is to meet with Estonia’s president and prime minister and address the parliament before heading to Latvia.
In Lithuania’s capital, Vlnius, on Wednesday, Zelenskyy said Ukraine has shown the world that Russia’s military can be stopped.
He said Ukraine still must bolster its air defenses against Russia’s intensified missile and drone onslaughts and replenish its ammunition supplies as long-range strikes become the main feature of this winter’s fighting.
“We have proven that Russia can be stopped, that deterrence is possible,” he said after talks with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda on his first foreign trip of the year.
The massive Russian barrages — more than 500 drones and missiles were fired between Dec. 29 and Jan. 2, according to officials in Kyiv — are using up Ukraine’s weapons stockpiles, however. The escalation is stretching Ukraine’s air defense resources and leaving the country vulnerable unless it can secure further weapons supplies.
A Russian S-300 missile hit a hotel in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, late Wednesday, injuring 11 people including a Turkish journalist, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said. The city has been attacked for four consecutive nights, the governor said.
“We lack modern air defense systems badly,” Zelenskyy said in Vilnius, noting that they are “what we need the most.”
He acknowledged, however, that stockpiles are low in countries that could provide such materiel. “Warehouses are empty. And there are many challenges to world defense,” he said.
Ukraine hopes to accelerate development of its domestic defense industry and establish joint projects with foreign governments to speed up ammunition and weapons production.
Ukrainian officials traveling with Zelenskyy signed several documents on cooperation on joint arms production. Similar agreements are expected in the other Baltic countries.
Nauseda said Lithuania will send ammunition, generators and detonation systems to Ukraine this month, and will provide armored personnel carriers in February. It has approved 200 million euros ($219 million) in support for Kyiv, he said.
Zelenskyy said on his official Telegram channel that the focus of his two-day trip to Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia is security concerns, Ukraine’s hopes to join the European Union and NATO, and build partnerships in drone production and electronic warfare capacities.
Zelenskyy thanked Lithuania for its military assistance and goodwill.
“We know how tiring this long-running war is, and we are interested in Ukraine’s complete victory in it as soon as possible,” Nauseda told reporters.
The small eastern European countries are among Ukraine’s staunchest political, financial and military supporters, and some in the Baltics worry that they could be Moscow’s next target.
The three countries were seized and annexed by Josef Stalin during World War II and regained independence with the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. They joined NATO in 2004, placing themselves under the military protection of the U.S. and its Western allies.
“Democratic countries have done a lot to help Ukraine, but we need to do more together so that Ukraine wins and the aggressor loses,” Estonian President Alar Karis said in a statement.
“Then there is the hope that this will remain the last military aggression in Europe, where someone wants to dictate to their neighbor with missiles, drones and cannons what political choices can be made,” he said.
In his Telegram message, Zelenskyy expressed gratitude to the Baltic countries for their “uncompromising” support of Ukraine over the past 10 years, referring to 2014 when Russia’s aggression started with the illegal annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea Peninsula.
Russia’s recent escalation of missile and drone attacks is stretching Ukraine’s air defense resources, a Ukrainian air force official said Tuesday, leaving the country vulnerable unless it can secure further weapons supplies.
Zelenskyy’s energetic international diplomacy during the war has been essential in maintaining pressure on friendly countries to keep supplying Kyiv with billions of dollars in weaponry, including German Leopard tanks, U.S. Patriot missile systems and British Storm Shadow cruise missiles.
That support has tailed off recently, however. A plan by the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden to send to Kyiv billions of dollars in further aid is stuck in Congress, and Europe’s pledge in March to provide 1 million artillery shells within 12 months has fallen short, with only about 300,000 delivered so far.
___
Associated Press writers Samya Kullab in Kyiv, Ukraine, and Liudas Dapkus in Vilnius, Lithuania, contributed to this report.
veryGood! (84158)
Related
- Gossip Girl Actress Chanel Banks Reported Missing After Vanishing in California
- Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell working from home after testing positive for COVID-19
- You'll Love Benny Blanco's Elaborate Date Night for Selena Gomez Like a Love Song
- Messi returns to Inter Miami training. Will he play against DC United? What the coach says
- What happens to Donald Trump’s criminal conviction? Here are a few ways it could go
- Scheffler starts his day in jail, then finds peace and a chance to win in the midst of all the chaos
- 18 Shocking Secrets About One Tree Hill Revealed
- Stray Kids talk new music, Lollapalooza: 'We put in our souls and minds into the music'
- Michael Jordan and driver Tyler Reddick come up short in bid for NASCAR championship
- Aid starts flowing into Gaza Strip across temporary floating pier U.S. just finished building
Ranking
- Lou Donaldson, jazz saxophonist who blended many influences, dead at 98
- Witness at Sen. Bob Menendez’s bribery trial says meat-export monopoly made costs soar
- Google rolls out Easter eggs for Minecraft's 15th anniversary: Use these keywords to find them
- You'll Love Benny Blanco's Elaborate Date Night for Selena Gomez Like a Love Song
- New 'Yellowstone' is here: Season 5 Part 2 premiere date, time, where to watch
- The unofficial spokesman for the American muscle car, Tim Kuniskis, is retiring
- COVID likely growing in D.C. and 12 states, CDC estimates
- EA Sports College Football 25 reveal: Dynasty Mode, Road to Glory, Team Builder return
Recommendation
-
Get $103 Worth of Tatcha Skincare for $43.98 + 70% Off Flash Deals on Elemis, Josie Maran & More
-
Jason Aldean honors Toby Keith with moving performance at ACM Awards
-
Taco Bell brings back beloved Cheesy Chicken Crispanada for limited time
-
The making of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue
-
Cruise ship rescues 4 from disabled catamaran hundreds of miles off Bermuda, officials say
-
Toronto Maple Leafs hire Craig Berube as head coach
-
Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Restart
-
Alice Stewart, CNN political commentator and veteran political adviser, dies at 58