Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky may visit Berlin, Munich and Paris later this week to lobby for additional military aid for Kiev amid the Ukrainian funding furor in the US Senate, Bloomberg news agency reported, citing unnamed sources.
They added that with ammunition supplies dwindling, Zelensky "needs to make the case for [the West’s] faster military aid to push back against" advancing Russian forces.
One of the sources suggested that the Ukrainian leader is likely to push for talks on security guarantees during his possible visits to European cities.
The sources stressed that the Ukrainian side has not yet confirmed the information about Zelensky's plans, while representatives of the French and German governments declined to comment on the matter.
This comes after the EU secured a deal to send 50 billion euros ($53 billion) more to Ukraine, which came amid attempts by a group of Republicans in the US Senate to thwart Washington's efforts to approve $60 billion in additional aid to Kiev.
Politico noted in this vein that US President Joe Biden’s inability to push this hefty package “compounds fears in EU circles that the bloc will need to shoulder the bulk of Kiev’s costs.”
The US and its allies increased their military aid to Ukraine shortly after the beginning of the Russian special military operation.
Moscow has repeatedly warned that such aid will only serve to prolong the conflict in Ukraine, and that any cargo entering Ukraine will be considered a legitimate military target by Russian forces.