Kyiv’s partners becoming more open to sending long-range weapons, Zelenskyy says
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Photo:Office of the President)
The long-standing taboo on supply of long-range missiles to Ukraine is waning, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his evening address on Feb. 17.
The president praised the results of the ongoing Ukrainian “diplomatic marathon.”
“A tank coalition has already been created for Ukraine, the taboo on supply of long-range missiles is being removed, there are new achievements in strengthening Ukrainian artillery, and the world has already heard how important it is for global security to create an aviation coalition for Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said.
He also said that Ukraine will present an “important resolution” to the UN General Assembly next week.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba previously called long-range missiles one of three military topics (along with tanks and fighter jets) on which Ukraine's allies haven’t reached a consensus yet. In January, Western partners agreed to transfer to Ukraine the first batch of modern heavy tanks – Leopard-2, Challenger-2, and M1 Abrams.
On Feb. 3, Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder confirmed that the new $2.175 billion military aid package for Ukraine includes GLSDB (Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bomb) missiles with a range of 150 km. Bloomberg reported that after signing the contract for the production of GLSDB, their delivery will take about nine months.
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