The war between Israel and Hamas has led to a slowdown in the delivery of grenades to Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday.
“In the Middle East, what do you think they started buying first? 155 caliber grenades. Our stocks have decreased,” he said in a conversation with a small group of journalists.
Israel, which enjoys military support from the United States, has been bombing the Gaza Strip since Hamas fighters massacred hundreds of civilians in an unprecedented attack in early October.
“It is not that the United States said: we will not give anything to Ukraine. No! We have serious, very strong relations,” Zelenskiyy said.
“It’s normal, everyone is fighting to survive,” he continued. “I’m not saying it’s something positive, but it’s life and we have to defend what’s ours.”
Russia and Ukraine are trying to maintain their stockpiles of artillery shells after almost two years of war since the invasion of Moscow.
“Today we have problems with 155 mm caliber artillery shells,” said the Ukrainian president.
All over the world, “now warehouses are empty or there is a legal minimum that this or that country can give you,” he explained. “And that’s not enough.”
Zelenskyy, however, welcomed the efforts of the United States to increase the production of this type of ammunition.
He also said that Russia is stockpiling missiles for attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure in the winter.
“I think they’re stockpiling (missiles), but they don’t have a lot more missiles than before. Otherwise, they would have already started bombing,” he said.
“I think we are better prepared for the winter than before,” he stressed, adding that he does not think Russia will use fewer weapons.
Zelenskiy also said that the recent meeting between his American colleagues Joe Biden and China’s Xi Jinping was “good” for Ukraine.
“We took it as a good thing for us, their meeting,” he said, referring to the summit meeting between Biden and Xi in California.
Zelenskyy said he could not confirm that Biden and Xi had discussed the war in Ukraine, but said the Russian invasion “one way or another” must be discussed by the superintendents when they meet.
China has never condemned the Russian invasion and has strengthened its economic, diplomatic and military cooperation with Moscow since the beginning of this conflict in February 2022, N1 reports.
