BY ELLEN MITCHELL
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday directly lobbied dozens of Western defense officials for more military aid, assistance that is sure to stretch thin with the conflict between Israel and Hamas raging.
Zelensky’s attendance at the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, a meeting of more than 50 defense leaders in Brussels, is the first time the Ukrainian leader has attended such a gathering.
The event offered a gain for Kyiv, with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announcing that the U.S. will send another $200 million in new weapons and equipment to Ukraine. That package includes munitions for air defense systems, anti-tank and anti-drone weapons and various artillery rounds.
But Austin also signaled that the Defense Department was preparing to offer more support to Israel in its war against Palestinian militant group Hamas, telling reporters that it “stands fully ready to deploy additional assets if necessary” — even as he assured that Washington could aid both countries.
“Make no mistake, the United States will remain able to project power and to direct resources to tackle crises in multiple theaters,” Austin said following the meeting. “We will stand firmly with Israel as we continue to support Ukraine.”
And as the gathering kicked off, Austin, flanked by Zelensky, said U.S. support for Israel will “remain ironclad.”
The meeting comes as Ukraine hopes to gain more Western weapons for its fight to reclaim territory from Russian troops ahead of winter.
But there are signs of the Western world growing weary of continuous funding for Ukraine as the country has only made minimal progress in its counteroffensive launched earlier this spring.
Zelensky’s attendance at the meeting Wednesday appeared to try to counterbalance that fatigue.
“Of course, everybody’s afraid” of diminishing Western assistance with the Israel and Hamas conflict, he said at a press conference with Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo. “And I think also Russia’s counting on it, on dividing support.” But the war in Israel has thrown a new wrench into Ukrainian efforts to shore up additional help, as it is sure to further strain weapons stocks already running low thanks to 19 months of helping Kyiv’s military.
