Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy yesterday welcomed the passage of $60 billion in aid for Ukraine by the US House of Representatives but urged Washington to quickly turn the bill into law and proceed with the actual transfer of weapons, saying long-range arms and air defence systems were top priorities.
In an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press, Zelenskiy said the passage of the bill would send a powerful message to Russia that Washington stands by Kyiv and that it would not be ‘a second Afghanistan’.
“I think this support will really strengthen the armed forces of Ukraine and we will have a chance for victory,” Zelenskiy said through an interpreter.
During the interview he repeatedly urged US legislators to take swift action to pass the bill in the Senate. He said Ukraine urgently needed US long-range weapons including ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile Systems) and air defence systems to turn around its fortunes on the battlefield.
“This is crucial. These are the priorities now,” Zelenskiy said.
ATACMS are long-range guided missiles. The White House last October confirmed that it had provided Kyiv with a type of ATACMS capable of hitting targets up to 165km away.