European Union defense ministers, meeting in Brussels Friday, called on Ukraine’s allies to deliver on promised weapons systems to support the nation’s war against Russia, while Ukraine’s top diplomat urged Britain and the United States to lift restrictions on his nation’s use of their weapons on targets inside Russia.
The defence ministers met for their first informal meeting following a summer recess, and, speaking to reporters ahead of the meeting, said military aid for Ukraine remains at the top of the agenda.
Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur said Ukraine’s recent incursion into Russia’s Kursk region was going in the right direction but added Ukraine is doing so with one hand “behind the back,” because it needs more weapons systems. He urged colleagues to deliver on promised weapons systems.
On that note, Netherlands Defence Minister Ruben Brekelmans said his country is close to delivering Patriot missile defense systems it has promised to Ukraine. He said he did not want to give a precise date, because he did not want to tip off the Russians, but he said it would be soon.
The arriving defence ministers also mentioned the crash of a U.S.-made F-16 fighter jet. Ukraine’s air force said Thursday that one of the F-16 warplanes that Ukraine had received from its Western partners has crashed.
On his Telegraph social media account, Ukraine’s air force chief, Mykola Oleshchuk, said that a preliminary report about the crash had been shared with the United States and that U.S. partners were assisting with the investigation.
