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64 Opinion bne July 2024
It is time for Ukraine’s partners and allies to provide Ukraine with “all the weapons necessary for the Ukrainian defence forces need to win", said Zelenskiy at the Berlin Recovery Conference, but compared to last year's conference, this one was more about surviving. / bne IntelliNews
A downbeat Berlin Recovery Conference highlights that Ukraine is increasingly in survival mode
Ben Aris in Berlin
It is time for Ukraine’s partners and allies to provide Ukraine with “all the weapons necessary for the Ukrainian defence forces to carry out the full de-occupation of
the country's territory”, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskiy said at the Berlin Recovery Conference on June 11.
"Hasn't the moment come for the partners to provide us with all the weapons needed to throw the Russian forces away? It has come," he said at a joint press conference with Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz.
The annual event is a chance for Zelenskiy to address the international community in a forward looking event,
but Ukraine has been bogged down in an increasingly difficult position as Ukraine runs low on men, money and
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materiel and is losing ground to an intensified assault by Russian forces.
As bne IntelliNews reported, the Western strategy has to make sure Ukraine does not lose the war but it has not given it the support to win. Zelenskiy has clearly become increasingly frustrated and continues to demand “Israeli levels of support,” an appeal that has been falling on deaf ears. The deteriorating situation Kyiv finds itself in was reflected in the agenda of the conference, which focused more on Ukraine’s survival than gathering resources for the eventual rebuild that was the theme at the London Recovery conference last June.
Zelenskiy told delegates that he was confident that the country can restore energy facilities that have been damaged