Ukrainian President Zelenskyy asks for more weapons from Western allies

BERLIN

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has asked Western allies to send more powerful weapons to push Russia out of Ukraine's territory.

“If you're asking me whether the time has come for the partners to give us all the weapons systems that are necessary to throw Russia out, then yes, the moment has come," he told a news conference in Berlin.

Zelenskyy met Western leaders and top diplomats at the Ukraine Recovery Conference, and discussed ways to boost support for his country.

During his address to the participants at the conference, Zelenskyy accused Russia of using energy as a weapon, and deliberately targeting Ukraine’s energy sector. He also asked for more air defense systems to repel Russian attacks.

“Russian missile and drone strikes have already destroyed 9 GW of capacity, while the peak energy consumption in Ukraine last winter was 18 GW. So, half of it does not exist anymore,” he said.

Zelenskyy said Russian attacks have destroyed eighty percent of Ukraine's thermal generation, and a third of its hydroelectric generation.

"Putin is trying to refine the practice of destroying energy facilities – from conventional thermal power plants and dams to such elements of the energy system as gas storage facilities and interconnectors connecting our energy system with the European one,” he said.

Zelenskyy asked for more support from European partners to support energy and infrastructure projects in his country.

“Therefore, everything that has now been rebuilt, repaired and protected in Ukraine will have a double effect: it will serve Ukraine and Europe, it will serve as a basis for the energy supply for the next decades, and it will also prove that Russia's arsenal will not retain such weapons as blackout,” he added.

The two-day Ukraine Recovery Conference brings together over 2,000 participants from politics, business, civil society, and municipalities, in order to mobilize international support for Ukraine's economic stabilization, war recovery, and reforms for EU membership.