| According to severaly Media outlets, British defence secretary Ben Wallace has asked Volodymyr Zelensky to show more ‘gratitude’ to his western allies in the west for arming Ukraine and he told him ‘we’re not Amazon’.Ben Wallace said Zelensky needed to be mindful about keeping ‘doubting politicians’ on his side after his complaints that Ukraine had not been assured a fixed schedule or list of conditions for joining Nato.‘You might not like it but people want to see a bit of gratitude,’ Mr Wallace told journalists in Vilnius the Lithuanian capital.‘My advice to Mr. Zelensky is that you are persuading countries to give up their own arms stocks for a legitimate defence and we see that you are doing it not just yourself but for all our freedoms.‘But sometimes you’ve got to persuade lawmakers on the Hill in America. You’ve got to persuade doubting politicians in other countries that it’s worth it and it’s worthwhile and they’re getting something for it.‘Whether you like that or not, that is just the reality of it.’Wallace stated that when he went to Ukraine last year he was only presented with a shopping list of weapons. ‘You know, we’re not Amazon,’ he said. ‘I told them that last yea afetr I had driven 11 hours to be given a wish list.’Evidently some U.S. lawmakers have complained about the level of support provided by Washington to Kyiv.‘Sometimes you would hear grumbles not from the administration in the American system, but you would hear them from lawmakers on the Hill … “We’ve given $83 billion worth or whatever, we are not Amazon,”’ he said.After this ruling Zelensky showed disappointment,because Nato stated they would be ‘in a position to extend an invitation to Ukraine to join the Alliance only after Allies agree and all conditions are met.’Supposedly all Nato allies agree that Ukraine cannot join so long as the conflict with Russia persists. Several of Kyiv’s partners had hoped for a significant political gesture during the summit which emphasised Ukraine’s progress towards membership.Washington and typically Berlin, however, were opposed to providing Zelensky with explicit commitments.Jake Sullivan, US national security adviser, told a public forum at the summit he believed ‘the American people do deserve a degree of gratitude from the United States government for their willingness to step up and from the rest of the world as well’.He also stated: ‘The United States of America has stepped up to provide an enormous amount of capacity to help ensure that Ukraine’s brave soldiers have the ammunition, air defence, the infantry, fighting vehicles, the mine clearing equipment and so much else to be able to effectively defend against Russia’s onslaught and to take territory back as well.’Wallace said he understood Zelensky was obviously speaking to his own country and despite his previous complaints, the outcome of the summit deal was a good one for Ukraine.Wallace said there was an acceptance that ‘Ukraine belongs in Nato’ and that amounted to an effective invitation for membership but after the conflict had died down.Rishi Sunak claimed that the UK had been at the forefront of efforts to support Ukraine.‘We’ve led the way on Ukraine, moving first on tanks and long-range missiles, training their troops for the counter-offensive and, just today, I’ve announced that we are providing more ammunition, 70 more combat vehicles as well as a new rehabilitation centre for injured Ukrainian veterans,’ he said.‘President Zelensky has actually expressed his gratitude for what we have done on a number of occasions, including his incredibly moving address made to Parliament earlier this year and he has done so again to me, as he has done countless times when I have met him.‘So I know that he and his people are incredibly grateful for the support we have shown, the welcome that we have provided to many Ukrainian families, but also the leadership we have shown throughout this conflict.’UK PM acknowledged 'people across Ukraine are fighting for their lives and freedom every single day and paying a terrible price for it' so he understood Mr Zelensky’s 'desire to do everything he can to protect his people'.-/-London 19. July 2023-pw-Imprint/ImpressumTo protect your privacy we neither store cookies nor use any google add-ons such as google analytics |
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