Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged Western nations gathering in Brussels on Thursday to take "serious steps" to help Kyiv, as an unprecedented one-day trio of NATO, G7 and EU summits got underway, Reuters reports.
The hectic day of summitry, aimed at maintaining Western unity, kicks off at NATO headquarters in Brussels, where the transatlantic defence alliance's leaders will agree to ramp up military forces on Europe's eastern flank.
While leaders promised to step up support for Ukraine, EU diplomats played down expectations of major new sanctions on Russia, and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg repeated that the alliance will not send troops or planes to Ukraine.
"At these three summits we will see who is our friend, who is our partner and who sold us out and betrayed us," Zelenskiy said in a video address released early on Thursday.
He said he expected "serious steps" from Western allies, repeating calls for a no-fly zone over Ukraine and complaining that the West had not provided Ukraine with planes, modern anti-missile systems, tanks or anti-ship weapons.
While they will not send troops or planes, the 30 nations of NATO, alarmed by the prospect that Russia might escalate the war with its neighbour after a grinding month-long conflict, will agree to send Kyiv equipment to defend against biological, chemical and nuclear attacks.
Leader after leader said as they arrived at the NATO meeting that the aim was to help Ukraine defend itself.
NATO has increased its presence on its eastern borders, with some 40,000 troops spread from the Baltic to the Black Sea. Leaders are expected to agree to deploy four new combat units in Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia to further reassure countries on its eastern flank.
