Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told a German broadcaster on Tuesday that U.S. peace negotiators “have no time to care about Ukraine” because of the war in Iran and expressed regret over the disruption to U.S. arms shipments.
Zelensky told DTV that Steve Witkov and Jared Kushner, who helped broker talks with Moscow on ending Russia’s war in Ukraine, “have been negotiating with Iran.”
Zelensky described the pair as “pragmatic” and said they were trying to “get more attention from Putin to end the war.”
But “if the United States does not put pressure on Putin and only engages in moderate dialogue with the Russians, then they will no longer be afraid,” he said.
U.S.-led talks aimed at ending Europe’s worst conflict since World War II have stalled since the war with Iran broke out in late March, with Russian and Ukrainian negotiators not meeting in Geneva since February.
Zelensky said that the issue of U.S. arms shipments to Ukraine has become “a big problem.”
“If the war continues, Ukraine will have fewer weapons. This is important, especially air defense material,” he said.
Zelensky later said at a press conference during a visit to Norway that this was particularly a problem for PAC-3 interceptor missiles and PAC-2 missiles.
He said the equipment was primarily purchased through the PURL program launched last year, which allows Ukraine to receive U.S. equipment funded by European countries.
“At the very beginning of the war in the Middle East, we knew we might face challenges,” Zelensky said.
Zelensky said deliveries were “slow,” noting that “it’s very difficult for us.”
Zelensky made the comments alongside Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gall Storr, as the two leaders announced they had signed a “joint statement on strengthening defense and security cooperation.”
The Norwegian government said in a statement that the two countries wanted to “promote closer cooperation between the Norwegian and Ukrainian defense industries” and that “Ukrainian drones will now be manufactured in Norway.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Zelensky led a government delegation to Berlin, where they met with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and key ministers to discuss Ukraine’s war against Russia, now in its fifth year.
The two countries also announced the establishment of a strategic partnership with defense as the core.
Bourgil
This article was generated from automated news agency feeds without modifications to the text.
