Zelensky meets with Turkey’s president on tour to pressure NATO

Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskymeets this Friday with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdoganin the last leg of a diplomatic tour to press for his country’s access to the NATO and sending more weapons from their allies.

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“Without long-range weapons, it is not only difficult to carry out offensive missions, but also, to be honest, defensive operations”declared this Friday Zelensky from the Czech Republicbefore heading to Slovakia and then to Türkiye.

“We are talking to USAFor now it only depends on them”he added.

The Czech Prime Minister Petr Fialasaid for his part that he would send combat helicopters to Ukraine and train F-16 fighter pilots American made.

The meeting with erdoğanin istanbuloccurs on the eve of fulfilling 500 days from the start of the Russian invasion and in the midst of a counteroffensive by kyiv troops which, according to the same admission Zelenskyit progresses slowly.

“However, we move on we don’t back down like the russians”, said the president. “Now we have the initiative”, added Zelensky, who after passing through Czech Republic traveled this friday to Slovakia.

The discussion with the Turkish president, an important mediator between kyiv and Moscow in this conflict, you should focus on the agreement for the export of Ukrainian grain by the Black Seawhich expires on July 17, and at the top of the NATO in the next week.

Analysts expect that Zelensky try to convince erdoğan to give the necessary green light to the entrance of Sweden in the alliance before the meeting on July 11 and 12 in Lithuania.

Türkiye blocks the Swedish candidacy due to an old dispute with Stockholm regarding the too lax attitude, according to Ankarafrom the Scandinavian country with the Kurdish militants residing there.

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cluster bombs

Zelensky seeks, above all, the incorporation of his country into the NATO and wants the Lithuanian summit to lead to a “invitation” to kyiv to join the group.

The general secretary of Atlantic Alliance, Jens Stoltenbergaffirmed this Friday that he hopes that in Vilnius “Allied leaders will reaffirm that Ukraine will become a member of the NATO and they will come together to bring Ukraine to his goal.”

Thursday, Zelensky moved to Bulgaria and later to Czech Republicfrom where he claimed “honesty” to the NATO and “courage” to his allies, from whom he demands more military support.

According to the Ukrainian president, the slowness in the arms supply has delayed its counteroffensive and has given time to Russia to strengthen their defenses in the occupied areas.

In WashingtonUS media reported that the Pentagon was preparing a new arms and ammunition package that could include the controversial cluster bombs, which consist of scattered small explosives for a wide radius.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikovtweeted that he had spoken with his American counterpart about “new projects related to the supply of various types of ammunition”.

These bombs have already been used by both sides, despite the fact that organizations of human rights They condemn its use and assure that unexploded ordnance may remain, threatening civilians.

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Mystery around Prigozhin

He Kremlin warned that he would follow “closely” the meeting between Zelensky and erdoğan and will keep “constructive collaboration with Ankara”in the words of its spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov.

But in Moscow all attention is focused on the mystery of the whereabouts of Yevgeny PrigozhinWagner’s boss who rebelled against the military command at the end of June.

Although the Kremlin had agreed that the leader of the paramilitary group would march to belarusthe president of this country and mediator of the pact that put an end to the rebellion, Alexander Lukashenkoassured that he was not there, but in St. Petersburg.

Peskov, when asked about the whereabouts of Prigozhinanswered: “We do not follow their movements”.

On the ground, Russian troops on Thursday launched a missile attack against the western city of Lvivhundreds of kilometers from the front, which killed nine people and injured 42 others, according to a balance sheet from the Ukrainian Interior Ministry on Friday.

The Russian army assured that it attacked places of “temporary deployment” of Ukrainian soldiers. “All designated facilities were affected”said the Defense Ministry.

Source: Elcomercio

jack

I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.