ZELENSKY IN ITALY, SEEKS INCREASED MILITARY AID FROM ALLIES

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Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky met Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Saturday, her office said, as he presses allies for more weapons in his country’s fight against Russia.

The pair met in Cernobbio, northern Italy, on the margins of the European House-Ambrosetti forum, where Zelensky spoke on Friday and Meloni was due to speak on Saturday.

Italy has strongly supported Ukraine and has sent weapons to help it defend itself against Russian forces, while insisting that these must only be used on Ukrainian soil.

Before heading to Italy, Zelensky had on Friday pressed his case to allies meeting at the US Ramstein Air Base in Germany, where Washington unveiled $250 million in new military aid for Ukraine.

He also met German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

The gatherings came as Moscow’s forces advance in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas.

Russian President Vladimir Putin declared on Thursday that capturing the region was his “primary objective” in the conflict, which has dragged on for two and a half years.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban — who upset his European Union counterparts and Zelensky by meeting Putin in Moscow in July — is also attending the three-day Italian forum.

Zelensky rejected Orban’s calls at Cernobbio for a ceasefire, saying that Putin had never respected earlier accords.

AFP