Zelensky launches “desperate” request for planes to European countries

Reuters, Afp, Europa Press, Sputnik and Xinhua

Newspaper La Jornada
Sunday March 6, 2022, p. 3

Washington. The Ukrainian president, Volodymir Zelensky, yesterday made a desperate request to European countries to provide Russian-made aircraft to fight Russia during a video call with lawmakers from the US Congress.

These planes are much needed. And I will do my best to help the administration to facilitate your transfer.Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement.

It was not clear how Washington could assist in the transfer of the aircraft, but it could facilitate the transactions or possibly be involved in paying for or even providing replacements.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham noted, in a video posted on Twitter, that there are planes available in some North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries that the Ukrainians know how to fly, but it seems that the United States is part of the problem and not the solution. Without further explanation, he added: Let’s give them the planes and drones they need.

The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, declared last Sunday that the states of the European Union were willing to deliver MiG-type fighter planes, which the Ukrainian pilots know how to handle, but the countries involved, including Bulgaria, Poland and Slovakia, They showed restraint.

In the video call, in which more than 280 members of the Senate and the House of Representatives participated, Zelensky reiterated the imposition of a no-fly zone over Ukraine to protect the population from Russian fighter attacks, more military aid and economic sanctions. harsher against Russia.

In the Democratic-controlled legislative chamber, there is strong bipartisan support for $10 billion in emergency military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. Schumer said in the session that he works with his colleagues to unlock them. quickly and help the Ukrainian people.

The United States and NATO have rejected calls for the imposition of a no-fly zone over Ukraine for fear of a direct military confrontation with Russia and the expansion of this conflict throughout Europe.

The US chief of staff, General Mark Milley, in Latvia ruled out the idea of ​​a no-fly zone in Ukraine, which would mean actively combat to the Russian forces. If a no-fly zone were declared, someone would have to enforce itdeclared the highest-ranking officer of the United States during a visit to this Baltic state bordering Russia.

We would have to go and actively fight the Russian air forceshe explained at a press conference, adding: It is not something that NATO Secretary General (Jens) Stoltenberg or any other policymakers among the member states have said they want to do..

Therefore, to date, I am not aware of any project to establish a no-fly zoneadded Milley, the first American official who has publicly addressed this issue.

The Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmitri Kuleba, criticized that NATO’s position regarding the conflict in Ukraine does not deserve respect. The Ukrainians have to see clearly and honestly that NATO is not really what they imagined it to behe told the press.

On the border between Ukraine and Poland, Kuleba advocated, in a meeting with his American counterpart, Antony Blinken, for the delivery of combat aircraft and anti-aircraft material, he also described the refusal of the Atlantic Alliance to do so as a sign of weakness before Russia.

During the day, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Blinken in a call that the crisis in Ukraine can only be resolved through dialogue and negotiations, and also pointed out that his government believes that this crisis should be resolved in accordance with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, above all in the respect and territorial integrity of all countries.

peace protests

In Germany, tens of thousands of all ages once again took to the streets of various cities, including Hamburg, to demonstrate against the war and for peace in Ukraine. Likewise, thousands did so in New York, London, Paris, Rome and Zurich. In most of the marches, the demonstrators attended carrying Ukrainian flags and banners that read Putin kills and Embargo to Russia.