Zelenskyy commits a coup during a surprise visit Biden plans a corridor: this will allow civilians to escape from the Gaza Strip

Should Ukraine now expect less support because NATO’s largest member, the US, is now focusing its resources more on the Middle East and supplying Israel with weapons? In any case, President Volodymyr Zelensky warned against such a scenario. Russia would take advantage of the situation, Zelensky said on Wednesday on the sidelines of the meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels, where he was unexpectedly present.

He came with the aim of seizing new arms shipments so that Ukraine can get through the winter safely. For this purpose, Zelenskyj mainly needs air defense capabilities. Last year, Russia targeted critical energy infrastructure, deliberately exposing the Ukrainian population to the cold winter.

Now the Ukrainian can go home with promises. Several countries have announced new weapons packages. The largest comes from Germany, worth about one billion euros. This includes an additional Patriot air defense system with more than 60 missiles and two Iris-T systems, one for medium range and one for shorter range. Germany is also providing three additional Gepard anti-aircraft tanks, ten Leopard 1 main battle tanks and more than thirty protected transport and medical vehicles. New AIM-9 guided missiles for air defense, precision-guided munitions, anti-tank weapons and artillery ammunition worth a total of $200 million are coming from the US. Britain, in turn, is putting together a winter package worth £100 million.

Premiere: Belgium spends 1.7 billion on income from the Russian central bank

Zelenskyj can also be happy that he now knows when he can expect the promised Western-made F-16 fighter jets. Specifically in the spring of 2024, more precisely next March or April, as the Danish Minister of Defense Troels Lound Poulsen has announced. Belgium has also definitively agreed to transfer some of its F-16s to Ukraine, but only from 2025, when the 45 Belgian fighter jets will be gradually replaced by the new F-35s from the US.

Zelenskyj received even more from Belgium: 1.7 billion euros. Belgium finances this money with taxes on interest income from the central bank’s frozen assets of more than 200 billion euros, the majority of which is held by the Brussels-based clearing bank “Euroclear”. “I hope that this measure can serve as inspiration for other countries in the EU,” Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said after a bilateral meeting with Zelensky. By comparison, according to the Federal Council, 7.4 billion francs of Russian central bank money was stored in Switzerland last May. (aargauerzeitung.ch)