"What happens if we fall? I don't know how many refugees will come to Europe, 20 million Ukrainians," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in Brussels. "Because they will destroy us, they will push us out," he continued, "that's why we ask you to defend our country."
The Ukrainian president raised the possibility of a refugee influx into Europe in Brussels to secure European support following the Trump-Putin deal on Russian diesel.
Zelensky admitted that his country lacks Patriot defensive missiles : "Most are sent by the US to the Middle East, but Europe has enough interceptors to get Ukraine through the winter." Furthermore, the Ukrainian president, on the one hand, urges states to build "our own anti-ballistic missile system," while on the other , he requests at least €70 billion more for Ukrainian defense, weapons, and resistance. "The war," he explains, "will cost €55 billion next year; your support will help us keep Russia at bay."
This support will not be lacking, assured Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen , because "Russia is trying in every way to destroy energy and water infrastructure" and "has not respected the truce" announced by US President Donald Trump.
The tone on the other side of the pond was completely different. Trump, after the recent rift over diesel, returned to publicly attacking Zelensky: "I'm not a big fan of his. He's not a person you should deal with. In fact, it's easier to negotiate with Putin."
(Unioneonline)
