KYIV
\nPresident Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine needs European financial support to continue fighting Russian forces for another two or three years.
\nKyiv has been largely dependent on military and financial support from allies abroad to hold off Moscow\u2019s army, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
\n\u201cI emphasized this again to all European leaders. I told them that we are not going to fight for decades, but you must show that for some time you will be able to provide stable financial support to Ukraine,\u201d Zelensky said in comments released Tuesday.
\n\u201cAnd that is why they have this program in mind \u2014 2-3 years,\u201d Zelensky said, referring to Brussels\u2019 plans to tap Russia\u2019s frozen assets to help Kyiv.
\nEU leaders last week tasked the European Commission to move ahead with options for funding Ukraine for two more years, leaving the door open for a mammoth loan using tens of billions of euros in Russian state assets that the bloc has frozen.
\n\u201cIf the war ends in a month, we will spend this money on recovery. If it does not end in a month, but after some time, then we will spend it on weapons. We simply have no other choice,\u201d Zelensky added.
\nThe Ukrainian leader also urged US President Donald Trump to pressure Chinese leader Xi Jinping to cut his support for Russia when the two leaders meet later this week.
\n\u201cI think this may be one of (Trump\u2019s) strong moves, especially if, following this decisive sanctions step, China is ready to reduce imports\u201d from Russia, Zelensky told journalists, including AFP, at a briefing released Tuesday.
\nTrump hit two major Russian oil companies with sanctions last week and has been urging buyers of Moscow\u2019s vital energy exports \u2014 specifically China and India \u2014 to cut their purchases that Washington and Kyiv say fund Russia\u2019s invasion.
\nAs the war drags through its fourth year, Russia is pushing forward across the front line, at significant cost.
\nZelensky conceded that Russian forces have gained a foothold in the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, an important former rail hub that Moscow has been trying to capture for over a year.
\n\u201cAround 200 Russians are located there in various places \u2014 we see this from drones. Pokrovsk is currently the main target for the Russians,\u201d Zelensky said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KYIV President Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine needs European financial support to continue fighting Russian forces for another two or three years. Kyiv has been largely dependent on military and financial support from allies abroad to hold off Moscow\u2019s army, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. \u201cI emphasized this again to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":511354,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-511344","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n