Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has told NATO leaders that Ukraine needs more heavy weapons and more financial support to counter the Russian invasion of Ukraine, warning that Moscow's ambitions will not stop. in this state.
"We need to stop the advantage of Russian artillery… we need more modern systems, modern artillery. This is not a war started by Russia only against Ukraine. "This is a struggle to dictate the conditions in Europe for what the future of the world will look like," Zelensky said as he addressed the NATO Summit in Madrid.
He also called for more financial assistance, saying Ukraine needed $ 5 billion a month to protect itself against Russian aggression. Zelensky further called for more sanctions against Russia, which would make it impossible for the country to secure money for the war.
"Russia still receives billions of dollars every day and spends it on war. "We have a deficit of several billion dollars, we do not have oil and gas to cover it," said Zelensky.
Meanwhile, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said that NATO is facing the greatest challenges since World War II. According to him, Moscow poses a direct threat to the security of alliance member countries.
At the start of the second day of the NATO summit in Madrid, where the new strategy for the future of the alliance is expected to be approved, Stoltenberg said that the allies will meet in " the time of the most serious crisis ", adding that " The summit will be historic and transformative, and we will make it clear that Russia poses a threat to our security ," Stoltenberg said.
While the last update of NATO policies turns out to be made in 2010, Stoltenberg stressed that he expects rapid ratification of the agreement for membership of Sweden and Finland in the military alliance, after the lifting of the veto by Turkey.
"We will take the decision to invite Sweden and Finland to become members, this is being done with unprecedented speed," he said in Madrid.