BERLIN(National Times)- Nato chief Mark Rutte and Kyiv\u2019s top allies vowed on Wednesday they would not lose sight of Ukraine\u2019s conflict with Russia and called on others to urgently boost their support for the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With the outbreak of the US-Israeli war against Iran, fears have grown that international support for Kyiv is waning, more than four years since Moscow\u2019s full-scale invasion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
American-led talks to end Europe\u2019s deadliest conflict since World War II have stalled since the start of the Middle East war, at a time US support for Ukraine was already weakening under US President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Rutte and defence ministers from Kyiv\u2019s key allies, including Germany and Britain, insisted alongside their Ukrainian counterpart at a meeting in Berlin that their backing was undiminished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russian President Vladimir Putin wants the \u201cworld to think that those who stand with Ukraine have grown weary or distracted,\u201d British Defence Secretary John Healey told a press conference after the talks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe truth is, our support continues steadfast,\u201d added Healey, announcing London would supply Ukraine with 120,000 drones, which have taken on a central role in the war. German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius added that the gathering in Berlin \u201cdemonstrates our unity and our determination\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other pledges of military aid at the meeting included more missiles from Germany, which has become Ukraine\u2019s biggest backer as US support has weakened, and drones from the Netherlands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Too few sharing burden\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n But Rutte also emphasised that all of Kyiv\u2019s allies needed to step up. It came a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky complained that US peace negotiators \u201chave no time for Ukraine\u201d because of the Middle East conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe cannot lose sight of Ukraine,\u201d stressed Rutte, adding that \u201ctoo few countries share too much of the burden\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAll allies must invest more to achieve the target of $60 billion of security and defence support to Ukraine this year,\u201d Rutte added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Boosting Ukraine\u2019s air defences as well as supplies of drones, missiles and long-range artillery ammunition were priorities, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Asked about concerns that supplies of US missiles to Ukraine could be affected by the Iran war, Rutte insisted that Washington understood it needed to continue supporting Kyiv.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe have to make sure that Ukraine has what it needs to stay in the fight,\u201d said the Nato chief. \u201cThere is a broad agreement on that, on both sides of the Atlantic.\u201d Ties between Trump and Nato have been severely strained in recent times, with the US president repeatedly railing against other members of the alliance for their failure to join in his war against Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ukrainian Defence Mykhailo Fedorov said that Ukraine had just endured \u201cone of the most difficult\u201d winters in its history, during which Russia targeted the country with hundreds of ballistic missiles and thousands of drones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut Ukraine endured,\u201d he added, saying greatly strengthened air defences had helped repel many of the attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wednesday\u2019s meeting of defence ministers came a day after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Zelensky announced a strategic partnership during talks in Berlin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The partnership will be centred on defence as Europe seeks to learn from Ukrainian battlefield expertise, especially in drone warfare.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" BERLIN(National Times)- Nato chief Mark Rutte and Kyiv\u2019s top allies vowed on Wednesday they would not lose sight of Ukraine\u2019s conflict with Russia and called on others to urgently boost their support for the country. With the outbreak of the US-Israeli war against Iran, fears have grown that international support for Kyiv is waning, more […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":124445,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-124444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n