Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, visibly irritated, demanded that Western nations provide a fraction of the military hardware in their stockpiles to his country and asked whether they were afraid of Moscow.
Several countries have promised to send anti-armour and anti-aircraft missiles as well as small arms but Zelenskiy said Kyiv was not getting what it needed.
“It is tanks for our state. It is missile defence. It is anti-ship weapons. That is what our partners have, that is what is just gathering dust there,” he said in his now customary late-night video address on Saturday. “This is all not only for the freedom of Ukraine but for the freedom of Europe.”
Ukraine needs just 1% of NATO’s aircraft and 1% of its tanks, he said, adding that it would be impossible to stop Russian attacks on the besieged southern port of Mariupol without enough tanks, armoured vehicles and aircraft.
“We’ve already been waiting 31 days. Who is in charge of the Euro-Atlantic community? Is it really still Moscow, because of intimidation?” he said.
Zelenskiy has repeatedly argued that Russia will seek to expand further into Europe if Ukraine falls.
However, NATO has rebuffed his calls for a no-fly zone to be established over Ukraine on the grounds that this could provoke a wider war.
