President Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrived in the Netherlands for talks with Prime Minister Mark Rutte that he said would focus on F-16 fighter jets. The Netherlands and Denmark last week got the go-ahead from the US to provide the planes to Kyiv once pilots have been trained, but the timing of any handover, and how many jets will be provided, remains in question.
(Bloomberg) — President Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrived in the Netherlands for talks with Prime Minister Mark Rutte that he said would focus on F-16 fighter jets. The Netherlands and Denmark last week got the go-ahead from the US to provide the planes to Kyiv once pilots have been trained, but the timing of any handover, and how many jets will be provided, remains in question.
US officials have become gloomy about Ukraine’s counteroffensive strategy, weeks before the Biden administration will need to secure Congressional approval for more funding, the Financial Times reported. The report echoed an assessment last week from the Washington Post, citing intelligence sources who weren’t identified. Ukraine’s foreign minister pushed back in an interview with Germany’s Bild am Sonntag, urging patience and repeating a call for more weapons help from allies. “Our success will reward the optimists and ruin the reputation of the doubters,” Dmytro Kuleba said. “What we need, however, is more long-term capabilities to achieve more short-term results.”
Russia repelled a drone south of Moscow early Sunday, the defense ministry said. A drone strike on the main railway station in Kursk in southern Russia, less than 100 miles from the Ukrainian border, damaged buildings and infrastructure. “The range of threats penetrating well inside Russia has increased,” the UK defense ministry said in an update, adding that its military is likely “under intense pressure” to improve air defenses. Over 60 buildings were damaged by Saturday’s Russian strike on Chernihiv in northern Ukraine, local officials said. Seven people were killed, including a six-year-old girl, and more than 100 injured when a suspected ballistic missile slammed into a theater there.
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