by Oleksandr Kozhukhar
LVIV, Ukraine, March 27 (Reuters) – A visibly irritated Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky on Saturday demanded Western countries provide some of their military equipment to Ukraine and asked if they were afraid of Moscow.
Several countries have pledged to send anti-armour systems, anti-aircraft missiles and small arms to Ukraine, but Volodimir Zelensky said Kyiv needed tanks, planes and anti-ship systems.
“It’s what our partners have and what gathers dust at home. All this is not only for the freedom of Ukraine, but for the freedom of Europe”, he affirmed in a video speech.
Ukraine would only need 1% of NATO’s planes and 1% of its tanks and would not ask for anything more, he added.
“We have already waited 31 days. Who is leading the Euro-Atlantic community? Is it Moscow again, because of intimidation?” he asked.
Volodimir Zelensky has repeatedly stated that Russia will seek to expand in Europe if Ukraine falls. NATO, however, did not support its request to establish an air exclusion zone over Ukraine.
Earlier in the day, Volodimir Zelensky spoke with his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda, who expressed his disappointment that the Russian-made fighter jets presented in Eastern Europe had not yet been transferred to Ukraine, the Ukrainian president’s office said in a statement.
“The price of procrastination will be the lives of thousands of Ukrainians,” the statement said, quoting Volodimir Zelensky. The Ukrainian president said that Poland and the United States had declared themselves ready to take a decision concerning the planes.
(Report Oleksandr Kozhukhar and David Ljunggren; French version Camille Raynaud)