BRUSSELS (AP) — World leaders heard impassioned pleas Thursday from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for more military aid to defend his country and the United States announced new sanctions and humanitarian aid as officials gathered for a trio of summits to discuss next steps in countering Russia’s month-old invasion of its much smaller neighbor.
The extraordinary series of summits — hosted by NATO, the Group of Seven industrialized nations and the European Union — reflected alarm that the conflict shows no sign of ending soon and could even spread beyond Ukraine’s borders. As Europe faces its greatest crisis in generations, Western leaders continue the search for ways to increase pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin while avoiding steps that could lead to a wider war on the continent.
Zelenskky, addressing the NATO gathering by video from Kyiv, called for “military assistance without limitations” as Russia is “without limits using its entire arsenal.” He specifically asked for anti-air and anti-ship weapons. And although Zelenskyy thanked Western nations for support they already have provided, his frustration was clear.
He urged NATO to provide Ukraine with “1% of all your planes, 1% of all your tanks.” “We can’t just buy those,” Zelenskyy said. “When we will have all this, it will give us, just like you, 100% security.”
U.S President Joe Biden, who is attending all three summits, said more aid was on its way.
“We are committed to identifying additional equipment, including air defense systems, to help Ukraine,” Biden said in a written statement after the NATO meeting.
Billions of dollars of military hardware has already been provided. A U.S. official, who requested anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said Western nations were discussing the possibility of providing anti-ship weapons amid concerns that Russia will launch amphibious assaults along the Black Sea coast.
The White House announced that the U.S. will welcome 100,000 Ukrainian refugees and provide an additional $1 billion in food, medicine, water and other supplies.
At the same time, Washington will expand its sanctions on Russia, targeting members of the country’s parliament along with defense contractors. The U.S. will also work with other Western nations to ensure gold reserves held by Russia’s central bank are subjected to existing sanctions.
With Russia facing increasing international isolation, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned China against coming to its rescue.
“They should join the rest of the world and clearly condemn the brutal war against Ukraine and not support Russia,” either with economic or military support, he said after the closed-door meeting.
The possibility that Russia will use chemical or even nuclear weapons has been a grim topic of conversation in Brussels, but a possibility leaders were preparing for.
Biden has said that possibility is a “real threat.” In addition, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told CNN this week that Russia could consider using its nuclear weapons if it felt there was “an existential threat for our country.”
A senior European diplomat said Western leaders would continue having quiet discussions on how to respond if Russia resorts to what would be the world’s first use of a tactical nuclear weapon.
The Russian invasion has spurred European nations to reconsider their military spending, and Stoltenberg opened the NATO summit by saying the alliance must “respond to a new security reality in Europe.”
