
President of the European Council Charles Michel (right) European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (left) and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky leave a press conference after a round-table meeting as part of a EU summit in Brussels
(Picture: AFP via Getty Images)Ukraine pleaded with the West on Thursday to speed up the delivery of battle tanks ahead of a new offensive expected to be launched by Vladimir Putin within weeks.
Volodymyr Zelensky was also urging European nations to supply more long-range missiles and artillery to force back Russian troops. After visiting Britain on Wedesday, where he stepped up the demand for fighter jets, Ukraine’s president flew to Paris to urge Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to boost their military support for Kyiv. Speaking at the European Parliament in Brussels this morning, Mr Zelensky told MEPs: “We are defending ourselves in the battlefield, we Ukrainians, together with you.”