Zelenskyy urges Ukraine allies to allow long-range weapons use in Russia

The United States pledged an additional $250m in military aid to Ukraine

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged his Western allies to allow Ukraine to use long-range missiles to hit targets inside Russia and increase pressure on Moscow to end the war.

“We need to have this long-range capability, not only on the divided territory of Ukraine, but also on the Russian territory, so that Russia is motivated to seek peace,” Zelenskyy said on Friday at a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group (UDCG) at Germany’s Ramstein Air Base.

“We need to make Russian cities and even Russian soldiers think about what they need: peace or [Russian President Vladimir] Putin.”

The United States pledged an additional $250m in military aid to Ukraine, which was announced by Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin at the meeting of the UDCG – also known informally as the Ramstein group.

It has regularly gathered together representatives of some 50 nations which supply arms to Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

“It will surge in more capabilities to meet Ukraine’s evolving requirements. And we’ll deliver them at the speed of war,” Austin said.