Ukraine’s president has thanked Western leaders for sending tanks to help fight Russia, but says they need to be delivered soon.
In his nightly address, Vladimir Zelensky urged the West to send long-range missiles and fighter jets.
His comments came as the US and Germany announced they would send Abrams and Leopard tanks to Ukraine.
Russia condemned the announcement as a “strong provocation” and said any tanks supplied would be destroyed.
Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for President Vladimir Putin, said the tanks “will burn like everything else.” “They’re just too expensive.”
Mr Zelenskiy said he had told NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg that “there must be progress in other aspects of our defense cooperation” – with Ukraine for the supply of long-range missiles and artillery.
He pressed not only for the immediate supply of Western tanks, but also for significant numbers: “We must build such a tank force, such a force of liberation that, after its attack, tyranny will never rise again.”
Although Mr Zelenskiy is now likely to focus on equipping Ukraine’s air force with more technologically advanced fighter jets after securing the tanks, many Western governments are opposed to such a move – fearing that the aircraft could be used by Russia. can be used to target targets within
In a speech to the Bundestag in Berlin on Wednesday detailing the tank plan, German Chancellor Olaf Schulz insisted that “there will be no deliveries of fighter jets to Ukraine.”
US President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday that the US will send 31 M1 Abrams battle tanks to Ukraine.
The decision to supply the tanks was announced hours after Germany said it would send 14 of its Leopard 2s to the battlefield in Ukraine.
Berlin also cleared the way for other European countries to donate German-made tanks from their stockpile.
Ukraine has lobbied for months to send supplies to Western allies.
He hailed the twin announcements as a turning point that would allow his army to regain momentum and retake occupied territory. About a year after the invasion of Moscow.
He also said the tanks could help deter a possible Russian offensive in the spring.
