STOCKHOLM: EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called on Saturday for European nations to provide long-range weapons for Ukraine to help it counter Russian strikes, while accelerating arms deliveries overall.
\n\u201cThe Russians are bombing from far away so the Ukrainians have to have the capacity to reach… the same distance, the same range,\u201d Borrell said after a meeting with Ukraine\u2019s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in Stockholm.
\n\u201cBut we have to speed up,\u201d he said, as Germany announced a new weapons package for Ukraine worth 2.7 billion euros ($2.95 billion), including tanks, armored vehicles and air-defense systems.
\n\u201cI welcome the German effort and invite all member states to follow this example,\u201d Borrell said.
\nOn Thursday, Britain said it would send its Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine, becoming the first country to provide longer-range weapons to Kyiv.
\nUkraine\u2019s President Volodymyr Zelensky has been urging Western allies to provide more advanced weapons ahead of a widely expected counter-offensive against Russian troops in eastern Ukraine.
\n\u201cInstead of asking when will the counteroffensive begin, ask, have I done enough for the Ukrainian counter-offensive to begin and be successful?\u201d Kuleba said at the press conference with Borrell.
\n\u201cThe main topics of my conversation with EU foreign ministers today will be a long-range artillery ammunition and short-range accession talks\u201d to join the EU, Kuleba said.
\nZelensky is seeking to accelerate the process for formal talks on EU membership for Ukraine in the wake of Russia\u2019s invasion, launched in February 2022.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
STOCKHOLM: EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called on Saturday for European nations to provide long-range weapons for Ukraine to help it counter Russian strikes, while accelerating arms deliveries overall. \u201cThe Russians are bombing from far away so the Ukrainians have to have the capacity to reach… the same distance, the same range,\u201d Borrell said […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":330958,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-330955","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n