Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks to reporters in Kyiv, Ukraine, 25 January 2025. Photo: EPA-EFE / SERGEY DOLZHENKO
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has denied reports that US military aid to Kyiv has been ended, after a 90-day moratorium on all foreign aid programmes was imposed by new US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday.
Speaking at a joint press conference with Moldovan President Maia Sandu in Kyiv on Saturday, Zelensky acknowledged that some new restrictions had been brought in by the new administration in Washington but stressed that he was “focused on military aid, and that has not been stopped, thank God”.
Washington currently supplies 40% of the weapons and equipment used by the Armed Forces of Ukraine to defend the country from the Russian invasion, meaning any pause in deliveries, no matter temporary, could have been disastrous for Kyiv, as Russian forces continue to advance in eastern Ukraine.
Zelensky also told reporters on Saturday that he was still unaware of any details of Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in Ukraine, and stressed that any peace talks Trump intended to hold with Russia would need to include Ukraine from the get-go in order to achieve a successful resolution to the conflict.
Zelensky also said that Ukraine was prepared to send coal to Moldova to help it weather an energy crisis that began at the start of the month when a contract allowing Russian gas to transit Ukraine to reach European markets expired, leaving Moldova and its pro-Russian breakaway region of Transnistria out in the cold.
Sandu, a staunch pro-European who in November won re-election as Moldova’s president by a narrow margin despite widespread claims that Russian proxies engaged in electoral interference, said that Russia’s “latest move” had been “to orchestrate an energy crisis”, and stressed that residents of Transnistria were suffering the most, having been forced to endure daily power cuts since Russian gas deliveries ended almost a month ago.
