Ukraine’s Zelenskyy thanks Scholz for defense package, discusses further cooperation
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had spoken by phone to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday and thanked him for a “powerful defense package” that would help Ukraine fend off Russian troops and defend its cities.
He also said they had discussed further defense cooperation but gave no details.
In a joint statement with Washington on Thursday, Berlin said it would provide Kyiv with Marder Infantry Fighting Vehicles and a Patriot air-defense system.
“I thanked (Scholz) for the powerful defense package, including several dozen Marder vehicles and the Patriot system. We discussed further cooperation to strengthen the Ukrainian army,” Zelenskyy wrote on Twitter.
He and other top Ukrainian officials have repeatedly called for heavier and more advanced weapons systems following Russia’s invasion, now in its eleventh month.
France also announced this week that it was sending light AMX-10 RC armored combat vehicles.
Zelenskyy also said on Friday that he had met two US senators in Kyiv, Jack Reed and Angus King, to discuss the battlefield situation and “the risks of potential escalation,” hours after a Russian-declared unilateral ceasefire began.
Zelenskyy called the ceasefire a “manipulation.”
In a joint statement with Washington on Thursday, Berlin said it would provide Kyiv with Marder Infantry Fighting Vehicles and a Patriot air-defense system.
“I thanked (Scholz) for the powerful defense package, including several dozen Marder vehicles and the Patriot system. We discussed further cooperation to strengthen the Ukrainian army,” Zelenskyy wrote on Twitter.
He and other top Ukrainian officials have repeatedly called for heavier and more advanced weapons systems following Russia’s invasion, now in its eleventh month.
France also announced this week that it was sending light AMX-10 RC armored combat vehicles.
Zelenskyy also said on Friday that he had met two US senators in Kyiv, Jack Reed and Angus King, to discuss the battlefield situation and “the risks of potential escalation,” hours after a Russian-declared unilateral ceasefire began.
Zelenskyy called the ceasefire a “manipulation.”
