Europe must keep backing Ukraine: Zelensky
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday urged allies in Europe and the US to keep backing Kyiv, as disputes in Brussels and Washington hold up new aid packages. The Ukrainian leader also took part in talks in Oslo with the leaders of the five Nordic countries on the eve of an important EU meeting in Brussels. "You can't win without help," Zelensky told reporters, after talks with Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store earlier Wednesday. In both the US and the European Union, internal disagreements are holding up aid packages for Ukraine worth billions of dollars. With the counter-offensive launched by Ukraine in July failing to yield the anticipated results, Zelensky is trying to bolster support. In particular, Zelensky is counting on the Nordic countries to help finance Ukraine's manufacture of NATO-compatible weapons. After his meeting with them, he said: "What Europe can do is the same as what the Nordic countries are doing." Since the start of the war in February 2022, the five Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden) say they have given around 11 billion euros in aid to Ukraine. In an op-ed published Wednesday in the Financial Times, the five leaders said "now is not the time to tire". Norway announced earlier this year a civilian and military aid package of 6.8 billion euros ($7.3 billion) to Ukraine over 2023-2027. On Wednesday, Oslo announced it was donating just over 250 million euros to Ukraine as part of this package, as well as new much-needed anti-air defence weapons. Ukraine is facing heavy Russian bombing. A Russian missile strike on Kyiv wounded more than 50 people. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said her government would on Thursday propose a new package of military aid to Ukraine worth almost one billion euros. (AFP)