Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday that he expects the upcoming NATO summit to provide specific steps to strengthen his country's air defences against Russia, hours after a Rus🐎sian missile attack killed at least 31 people and wounded 154 others in various locations, including a children's hospital in Kyiv.
Zelenskyy met with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Warsaw to discuss further support for Ukraine from NATO, as well as signing a bilateral cooperation and defence doc𓂃ument.
“We would like to see greater resolve in our partners and hear resolute res👍ponses to these attacks," Zelenskyy told a ♋joint news conference, stressing that Ukraine will take its own retaliatory steps.
“I can see a possibility for our partners to use their air defence systems in a way to hit...the missiles that are carrying ♌out attack♌s on our country," Zelenskyy said.
Leaders are expected to discuss ways of providing reliable long-term security aid an𒉰d military training for Ukraine more than two years after Russia's full-scale invasion.
At the start of the news conference with Tusk🐼, Zelenskyy asked those gathered to observe a moment of sil▨ence for the victims of Monday's airstrikes.
Tusk off🎶ered every available form of help for the children evacuated from💖 the bombed hospital.
The two leaders signed a cooperation and defence agreement that spells out Poland's continued support for Ukraine in defense, especially air defence, energy security for Ukraine, and Poland's participation🅠 in reconstruction.
A legion🐎 of Ukrainian volunteers currently abroad will be🎃 trained in Poland with the aim of joining the defence effort on Ukraine's soil, Zelenskyy said.
Poland will be represented at the NAT꧟O summit by President Andrzej Duda, who was scheduled to meet with Zelenskyy later Monday. Poland is among the staunchest supporters of Ukraine and has offered around $4 billion in military equipment, training and other items for defence. It is also offering humanitarian, political and economic support.
An initiative likelꦐy to be endorsed at the three-day summit is NATO taking more responsibility for coordinating training, and military and financial assistance for Ukraine's forces, instead of the US Eur🌄opeans also are talking about giving Ukrainians a greater presence within NATO bodies, though there's no consensus yet on Ukraine joining the alliance.
Tusk said that Poland will “continue to advocate among our allies that this path for Ukraine to reach the EU and NAT🤪O membership should be as fast as possible”.
