Zelensky and Bauer discussed opportunities to strengthen the alliance’s coordination role in supporting Ukraine, in particular in enhancing its defence capabilities…reports Asian Lite News
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Robert Bauer, chair of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) Military Committee, discussed support for Kiev during a bilateral meeting, the presidential press service reported.
Zelensky on Thursday thanked Bauer for his visit, describing it as a strong signal of support for Ukraine, Xinhua news agency reported.
He informed Bauer about Ukraine’s priority defence needs, in particular the necessity for additional air defence systems.
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Zelensky and Bauer discussed opportunities to strengthen the alliance’s coordination role in supporting Ukraine, in particular in enhancing its defence capabilities.
Besides, the parties exchanged their views on Ukraine’s future military potential and its movement toward NATO standards.
Ukraine’s expectations from the NATO summit, which is set to take place in Washington, the US, in July, was another topic of the talks.
Bauer arrived in Kiev for his first visit since the start of the full-scale war between Russia and Ukraine in February 2022.
Earlier on Thursday, Bauer participated in the 16th annual Kyiv Security Forum, according to local media reports.
Moscow to use legal means against asset profit transfer
Russia will use all available legal mechanisms and will retaliate if the EU moves forward with plans to use profits from frozen Russian assets to arm Ukraine, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
“We will use all possible judicial mechanisms, those that are available now and those that will become available in the future,” Peskov added on Thursday. His statement follows a proposal made by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Tuesday to use revenues from Russia’s frozen assets to provide military assistance to Ukraine.
Borrell suggested using 90 per cent of the profits generated from Russian assets to supply Ukraine with arms via the European Peace Facility.
“On the basis of reciprocity, we will not deliver a mirror response but will choose other response measures that will correspond to our own interests,” Peskov said. Western countries have imposed sanctions on Russia since February 2022, freezing sovereign and private assets.
Russia’s currency reserves were frozen to the amount of nearly $300 billion.
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