NATO Must Choose 'whether We Indeed Are Allies': Zelensky

Dnipro, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th Apr, 2024) NATO must decide if it is Kyiv's ally, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday, urging defence ministers from the bloc's member states to step up arms deliveries to his struggling forces.

His appeal to Western partners to provide at least seven more air defence systems came hours after Russia launched a wave of fatal drone and missile attacks across the country.

A barrage in Ukraine's eastern Dnipropetrovsk region killed at least eight people, including two children. But Ukraine said it had downed one of the long-range Russian bombers that launched the missiles for the first time.

"Our sky must become safe again," Zelensky told a gathering of NATO defence ministers via video link.

"It depends fully on your choice," he said, telling the meeting in Brussels that their alliance faced a choice over "whether we indeed are allies".

Comparing Western efforts to defend Israel from Iran's recent aerial attacks to Ukraine's situation, Zelensky argued more could be done to help Kyiv fend off Russian bombardments.