Five EU heads of government, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, called on member states on Wednesday to
“redouble their efforts”
in their military support for Ukraine against the Russian invasion ahead of a crucial summit of the 27. eastern Ukraine, nighttime drone attacks continue, by the Russian army in Kharkiv, and by the Ukrainian army in Donetsk.
Le Figaro
takes stock of the situation in Ukraine.
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European leaders call for 'redoubled efforts' to support Ukraine
“We must redouble our efforts to ensure that our support continues for as long as it takes
,” said Olaf Scholz, Mette Frederiksen (Denmark), Petr Fiala (Czech Republic), Kaja Kallas (Estonia) and Mark Rutte ( Netherlands) in an article published in the daily Financial Times.
“Ukraine does not have sufficient quantities of artillery ammunition.
And commitments in terms of military support risk not meeting
Kiev's needs, they add.
They therefore call on
“Ukraine's friends and partners to recommit to long-term and sustainable military support for Ukraine, as a common responsibility of Europe”
.
This forum comes as some EU countries, led by Berlin, have repeatedly stated in recent weeks that member states could do more in providing military aid to Ukraine.
An evaluation is also underway to take stock of the contributions of each Member State, while a summit on financial support in kyiv will bring together the 27 on Thursday in Brussels.
Difficult discussions are expected to find a compromise with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who, in December, vetoed the payment of European aid of 50 billion euros over four years to kyiv.
“At the beginning of last year, the EU committed to an ambitious target: to supply Ukraine with one million artillery shells by the end of March 2024. The harsh reality is that we have not achieved this objective
,” declared the heads of government in the FT column.
“What is urgent today is to send the munitions and weapons systems, including howitzers, tanks, drones and air defense, that Ukraine so urgently needs on the ground .
Now
,” they add.
To do this, all avenues should be explored:
“donation of existing stocks or joint purchase of munitions through our defense industries”
, they suggest in particular.
Two civilians dead in Ukrainian drone attack near Donetsk
Two civilians were killed and one injured in a drone attack in the Ukrainian region of Donetsk, controlled by Russian forces, the pro-Russian mayor of Horlivka said on Wednesday.
“Due to a drone strike by the Armed Forces of Ukraine against a civilian vehicle on the road connecting Horlivka and Donetsk, near the village of Panteleimonovka, two civilians were killed, one person was injured,”
said the mayor of Horlivka , Ivan Prikhodko, on his Telegram channel.
A Ukrainian drone was also
“destroyed by air defense forces over the territory of the Pskov region”
, in north-west Russia, the Russian Defense Ministry said on its official website. .
In recent months, Ukraine has increased its attacks in Russia but generally focuses on border regions such as Belgorod.
The country has, however, already claimed sabotage actions in much more distant territories, even in the Russian Far East.
Russian drone and missile attack in the Kharkiv region
Russia carried out a new night attack against Ukraine with 20 drones and three ballistic missiles, the Ukrainian armed forces said, stressing that the air defense downed a dozen machines.
Ukraine, which has suffered Russian aerial bombardments for almost two years, has called on its Western allies to strengthen its defensive systems.
The Ukrainian Air Force said Russian forces launched 20 Iranian-designed attack drones as well as three ballistic missiles.
Ukrainian air defense systems, mainly in the southern and eastern regions of the front, shot down the drones, according to the same source which does not mention the missiles.
The authorities have provided little information at this stage on the damage caused by this new attack.
Police in the Kharkiv region (east), which borders Russia, however, indicated that a supermarket and residential houses had been damaged during the attack.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said this week that Ukraine's priority is to regain control of its airspace this year in order to make progress on the front.