Zelenskyy and the West call for aid at Shangri-La Dialogue

German Defense Minister General Carsten Breuer said that increased supplies of artillery shells had strengthened Ukraine's defense capabilities, especially on the new Kharkiv front, but more was still needed - especially surface-to-air missiles.

Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy speaks during a press conference on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on June 2, 2024. Photo: Reuters

“What we see is that Ukraine needs air defense systems… and of course weapons systems and artillery shells to counter Russia and the current attack,” Mr. Breuer said in an interview on the sidelines of the conference.

Air defense systems are particularly important to Ukraine, experts and defense officials from three other Western countries said.

Russia's stepped-up missile and air attacks mean Kiev must work harder to protect not only military units near the front line, but also cities and key infrastructure.

Mr Zelenskyy arrived in Singapore on Saturday to try to drum up support for a “Ukraine peace summit” scheduled for June 15-16 in Switzerland, where he hopes to rally friendly countries around ideas for resolving the conflict, including demanding that Russia withdraw its troops and restore Ukraine’s 1991 borders.

“It is very important for us to start the process of establishing a just peace,” Mr Zelenskyy said on the social media platform X.

By Sunday afternoon, he had met with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin; Indonesian President-elect Prabowo Subianto; a US congressional delegation; and Timor-Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta. He is scheduled to meet with Singapore's president and prime minister later in the day.

No new military aid commitments were announced at the Singapore security conference. But Austin briefed Zelensky on Washington’s aid to Kiev and “reaffirmed the U.S. commitment,” a Pentagon official said after the meeting.

Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte, who has said her country's military would train troops inside Ukraine if needed, has called on countries in the Indo-Pacific region to provide more support to Kiev.

In recent days, Ukraine has begun using US weapons such as the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) to attack Russian forces inside Russian territory — a development for which President Zelenskyy said he was grateful but that it was not enough.

He said Russia was using multiple airfields to launch attacks on Ukraine, “knowing that Ukraine will not fire back because it has no response system and is not authorized to do so”.

The Shangri-La Dialogue, a premier Asian security conference in Singapore and organized by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, began on Friday and concluded on Sunday evening.

Hoang Anh (according to Reuters)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/ong-zelenskyy-va-phuong-tay-keu-goi-vien-tro-cho-ukraine-tai-doi-thoai-shangri-la-post297842.html