2024-01-11 22:03:51
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said yesterday that “any pause” by his country in defending itself once morest Russian forces will help Moscow rearm and “crush us.” While Estonia intends to provide aid worth 1.2 billion euros to Ukraine until 2027. At a time when the Ukrainian Parliament refused to discuss a controversial draft law aimed at mobilizing more soldiers, amid sharp criticism from lawmakers and public opinion.
Zelensky is visiting the capital, Tallinn, the second stop on his tour of the Baltic states, which strongly support his country, as part of his efforts to mobilize support for Kiev as the second anniversary of the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war approaches.
Zelensky said, during a joint press conference with his Estonian counterpart, Alar Karis: “Give the Russian Federation between two to three years and they will simply crush us.” “We will not take any risks. There will be no stop in the fight for Russia.” He added that a “long-term war” would not be in Ukraine’s interest.
Meanwhile, Karis called for “an unlimited supply of weapons to Ukraine,” noting that Kiev should be allowed to strike targets inside Russian territory using Western weapons. He said: “We must understand that attacking Russian military targets is inevitable in war, to obstruct the progress of Moscow’s forces and weaken them.”
Karis revealed his country’s intention to provide aid worth 1.2 billion euros to Ukraine until 2027, stressing that “within the European Union, we have already provided aid worth 5 billion euros to Ukraine.” He continued: “This support must continue.” “Ukraine needs more and better weapons,” according to what the Ukrainian national news agency “Ukrinform” reported.
Karis said that the European Union must increase arms production so that Ukraine can obtain everything it needs “not tomorrow, but today.” He continued: “Our actions must aim to prevent any aggressive war in Europe in the future,” adding that “Ukraine will have Estonia’s support as long as the war continues.” Karis noted that Estonia will provide Ukraine, annually, with 0.25% of the country’s defense budget, calling on “everyone to provide the greatest possible amount of aid to Ukraine until Russia stops its war.”
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Parliament refused to discuss a draft law aimed at mobilizing more soldiers, amid sharp criticism from lawmakers and public opinion.
Last December, Zelensky expressed the Ukrainian army’s desire to mobilize up to half a million people to confront regarding 600,000 Russian soldiers deployed in the country.
The draft law tightens penalties for deserters from military service, and lowers the age of conscription from 27 to 25 years. Although it reduces compulsory service from an indefinite period to 36 months, the changes have sparked divisions in Ukraine.
The head of the ruling party, David Arakhmiya, said following a closed session with Ukrainian military leaders that “some provisions directly violate human rights, and others were not formulated optimally.” He added: “We understand the request of the military leadership and we are ready to meet it. But it is not possible to support all the rules,” he said, stressing that the draft law would be referred to the government once more.
MP from the liberal, pro-European Union “Holos” party, Jaroslaw Zhelezinka, said: “In short, there will be no developments under the law related to mobilization.” Not today, not tomorrow, and not in the near future.”
Zelensky acknowledged that Ukrainians of military age left the country illegally to escape conscription. He said: “If they are of mobilization age, they must help Ukraine and be in Ukraine.”
According to observers, Kiev, which has regarding 850,000 soldiers, is trying to strengthen this number as Moscow intensifies pressure and deployment on the front lines. Kiev does not disclose its losses, but following nearly two years of trench warfare and a faltering counterattack, independent estimates put the number in the tens of thousands.
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