(Reuters) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Thursday urged Europe to increase and speed up its supply of weapons to his country as well as impose additional sanctions on Russia, saying otherwise the war could drag on for years.
In a long and sharply worded video address to EU leaders, delivered from a train, a clearly frustrated Zelenskiy said it was up to the 27-nation bloc to take action to contain Russia more than a year into its invasion of Ukraine.
In particular, he reiterated demands for long-range missiles, more ammunition and more modern aircraft, and said the EU needed to speed up the process to grant Ukraine membership.
“If Europe waits, the evil may have time to regroup and prepare for years of war. It is in your power to prevent this,” he said as EU leaders held talks with U.N. chief Antonio Guterres.
Zelenskiy was particularly critical of what he called the EU’s delay in signaling stronger sanctions against Russia.
(Reporting by Ron Popeski and David Ljunggren; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
