Ahead of the latest meeting of a U.S.-led panel on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country would seek to maximize its own defense production.
Zelensky said in an evening speech on Monday that it was in Ukraine’s strategic interest to expand its production potential every year.
His comments followed a meeting with visiting U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham as new U.S. aid has been stalled by political divisions in Washington.
Zelensky said he and Graham discussed “the importance of winning freedom and democracy here in Ukraine in this war, otherwise Russian aggression and chaos will spread around the world.”
Zelensky said his military needs artillery, F-16 jets, Patriot missiles and Army tactical missile systems.
US President Joe Biden has proposed $60 billion in new aid to Ukraine as part of a security package approved by the Democratic-led US Senate. The Republican-led House has yet to take up the measure, with House Speaker Mike Johnson insisting the security plan also addresses U.S. border security.
Ukraine’s military reported on Monday that Russia launched 22 drones, 17 of which were shot down, in nighttime attacks across the country.
The Ukrainian air force said the Russian strikes also included five missiles targeting the Kharkiv region on the Ukrainian-Russian border and two other missiles targeting the neighboring Sumy region.
The range of the drones was wide, and the Ukrainian military said interceptions occurred in Kiev, Poltava, Khmelnytsky, Cherkasy, Kirovolad, Dnipropetrovsk, Vinny Zaporozhye and Rivne regions.
This report contains information from The Associated Press, AFP and Reuters.
