Germany’s top diplomat is in Kyiv as Ukraine braces for the impact of US elections on the war

Kyiv, Ukraine — Germany’s top diplomat arrived Monday in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv for an unannounced visit in what appeared to be a show of European support for Ukraine ahead of the U.S. presidential election. can bring far-reaching changes in Washington’s policy towards All-out Russian invasion your neighbor.

Germany is Ukraine’s second-largest arms supplier after the United States, and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has vowed that Berlin’s support will remain unchanged.

“Together with many partners around the world, Germany stands firmly on the side of Ukraine,” she said, according to the German news agency dpa. “We will support Ukrainians as long as they need us so they can continue their path to a just world.”

The war is at a critical juncture for Ukraine, with the Russian army making creeping gains on the battlefield and another difficult winter ahead after Russia’s ruthless actions. damaged the Ukrainian energy system.

With his army under heavy pressure from Russia in the eastern Donetsk region, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said on Monday that Western military aid deliveries had accelerated, including for artillery.

The grueling war being waged in Ukraine requires a lot of ammunition, and Ukrainian officials have long grumbled that Western promises of support waiting too long.

On the eve of the US elections, Zelensky tried to lock up Western supporters of Ukraine in long-term “victory plan”, including an official invitation for Ukraine to join NATO and permission to use long-range Western missiles to strike military targets in Russia, but the response disappointed Kyiv officials.

Russia is using its numerical superiority to put pressure on Ukrainian positions along the front line. Ukraine’s supreme commander, General Alexander Syrsky, said on Saturday that his troops were struggling to hold back “one of the most powerful (Russian) offensives” of the war.

Russia is now stepping up its offensive, Western intelligence sources say. force of about 10,000 North Koreans combat troops sent by Pyongyang under an agreement with Moscow.

It has Zelensky’s disappointment increased with the help of the West. On Saturday, he called on allies to stop “watching” and take action before North Korean troops take the field.

Zelensky said Kyiv knows which Russian camps North Korean troops are training in, but Ukraine cannot strike them without allied permission to use Western-made long-range weapons to hit targets deep inside Russia.

According to officials, Burbock arrived in Kyiv several hours after debris from drones intercepted by air defense systems fell in two areas of the city, causing small fires. According to the head of the Kyiv city administration, Sergei Popko, neither people nor property were damaged.

A Russian glide bomb on Sunday evening injured 15 people in Kharkov, Ukraine’s second-largest city in the northeast, regional police said.

Russia fired about 80 Shahed drones into Ukrainian cities overnight, the Ukrainian Air Force reported.

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