Sept 23 (Adnkronos/GNA) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has asked US President Donald Trump for a “winter package” of new military supplies and a push to secure a deal to halt attacks on energy infrastructure.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, Zelensky, who will deliver his fourth address to the UN General Assembly today since the 2022 Russian invasion, said that during his meeting with President Trump, he requested new weapons for the winter, including Patriot anti-missile systems and other technologies.
Zelensky maintains that Russian President Vladimir Putin is unlikely to respond to the request for a ceasefire regarding energy infrastructure without new pressure, such as tightening sanctions.
According to Zelensky, with the elections now behind him, the Russian leader feels little pressure to alter his military campaign, despite limited progress on the battlefield.
Zelensky has claimed that Ukrainian forces have destroyed 45% of Russia’s refining capacity.
“With diesel and other fuel prices rising, President Trump has pressured Zelensky to stop targeting Russian refineries, creating a new source of tension, while the Ukrainian leader accuses Russia of targeting Ukraine’s civilian energy infrastructure.
The Ukrainian president stated that Trump did not discuss energy prices during the talks in New York, but that it is no secret that the US administration has been putting pressure on him,” the US business newspaper writes.
Zelensky also claimed that Putin responds only with force and that attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure require a response. “Our lives are more important than the price of energy,” Zelensky said, attributing much of the rising costs to traffic restrictions around the Strait of Hormuz.
The Ukrainian leader explained that Russia has gained very little territory and paid for these gains with enormous losses in terms of military personnel. “The situation on the battlefield is not favorable to Putin, so he is not winning, that’s true,” Zelensky told the WSJ.
However, the Ukrainian president added that Putin needs a victory and expressed fears that he might strike a NATO member country to demonstrate that the alliance lacks the strength to retaliate. The Ukrainian leader also openly accused China of supplying Russia with unspecified technologies, suggesting that Beijing is sharing communications technology similar to Starlink’s.
GNA/Eca/Adnkronos