Zelenskyy says Ukraine, US finalize ‘all details’ in agreements on ATACMS missile systems

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country and the US finalized “all the details” in the agreements on ATACMS tactical missile systems, amid talks with his American counterpart Joe Biden.

Zelenskyy said in an evening video address late Monday that especially after the “positive shift” in terms of American assistance to Ukraine and work to ensure the provision of weapons needed by Ukrainian soldiers, they must work to keep the situation in the front line “under control” and “return the initiative” to Kyiv.

Expressing that he and Biden talked in particular about this issue during their talk, Zelenskyy thanked his counterpart and the US Congress for their support and decision, and said: “(It) benefits our protection from Russian terror and our ability to end the war justly.”

On Saturday, the US House of Representatives passed a $60.8 billion aid bill to Ukraine as the country continues to fight off Russia’s war that began in February 2022.

Zelenskyy further touched upon a missile attack on the country’s eastern city of Kharkiv that struck the city’s television tower, just before talks with Biden, describing this to be “an intimidation” and an effort to try to limit Kharkiv in terms of communication and access to information.

He said work is underway to restore the signal, and that different cities, including Kharkiv, and communities need air defense.

Zelenskyy went on to say that they also need to inflict “maximum damage on everything that Russia uses as a base for terror and for its military logistics.”

“I am grateful to everyone in the world who is willing to help us in this regard, and we are working with our American partners to increase our capabilities,” Zelenskyy said.

In this regard, Ukraine’s president outlined priorities for Kyiv, namely “protection of the sky, modern artillery, long-range capability, and ensuring that the American support packages arrive as quickly as possible.”

Ukraine’s president also said his country and the US have started working on a bilateral security agreement, and that they can make their potential agreement “a true paragon that will not only provide greater security for our people, but also help the entire course of European history proceed in the right direction and only in peace.”

Ukraine has already signed bilateral security treaties with nine other countries -- the UK, Germany, Denmark, Latvia, Finland, France, Italy, Canada, and the Netherlands.​​​​​​​