Ukraine wants 'concrete' outcomes from NATO meeting: minister

Ukraine wants 'concrete' outcomes from NATO meeting: minister
by AFP Staff Writers
Kyiv, Ukraine (AFP) Nov 22, 2024

Ukraine's foreign minister said Friday that his country would seek "concrete outcomes" against Russia at a meeting next week with NATO representatives convening over Russia's strike with a new hypersonic missile.

"This is a serious scaling up of the war, a serious escalation of Russian aggression," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said at a press conference in Kyiv, adding that: "Next week's meeting will be held in the NATO-Ukraine format, and we hope for concrete and meaningful outcomes."

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That assessment for next year came after a Russian drone attack at night on the eastern Ukrainian city of Sumy killed two civilians and wounded a dozen more in an attack with new cluster munitions, local authorities said.

Putin announced the missile launch in a defiant address late on Thursday, saying the conflict in Ukraine had taken on a "global" nature, while hinting at strikes on Western countries.

In a meeting with military commanders, Russian defence minister Andrei Belousov said Moscow's advance had "accelerated" in Ukraine and "ground down" Kyiv's best units.

"We have, in fact, derailed the entire 2025 campaign," Belousov said of the Ukrainian army in a video published by the Russian defence ministry.

The attack, which apparently targeted an aerospace manufacturing plant in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro, sparked immediate condemnation from Kyiv's allies.

China, which has thrown its political clout behind the Kremlin, reiterated calls for "calm" and "restraint" by all parties after Russia confirmed the new missile strike.

"All parties should remain calm and exercise restraint, work to de-escalate the situation through dialogue and consultation, and create conditions for an early ceasefire," foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a regular briefing.

- 'Terrible escalation' -

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz meanwhile, on Friday described Russia's deployment of the medium-range missile as a "terrible escalation."

NATO and Ukraine will hold talks next week in Brussels over the strike, according to diplomats.

Ambassadors from countries in the NATO-Ukraine Council will hold talks on Tuesday. The meeting was called by Kyiv following the Dnipro strike, officials told AFP.

The Russian attack came after Ukraine recently fired US- and UK-supplied missiles at Russian territory for the first time, escalating already sky-high tensions over the conflict, which is nearly in its third year.

Washington said it had granted Kyiv permission to fire long-range weapons at Russian territory as a response to the Kremlin's deployment of thousands of North Korean troops on Ukraine's border.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for a strong response from world leaders to Russia's use of the new missile, which he said proved Moscow "does not want peace".

In Kyiv, Oleksandra, a 30-year-old resident working in the media, said the Russian strike was a sign of desperation within the Kremlin.

"You could have launched a missile that is less expensive and have the same result. As long as this missile does not carry a nuclear payload, there is nothing to fear about," she told AFP.

Russian troops have been making steady advances in eastern Ukraine for months, capturing a string of small towns and villages from overstretched Ukrainian soldiers lacking manpower and artillery.

In the city of Sumy, authorities said a Russian drone had struck a residential neighbourhood. Emergency services distributed images showing rescue workers retrieving thr bodies of the dead from the rubble.

Sumy lies across the border from Russia's Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops captured swathes of territory after launching a major ground offensive in August.

The head of the Sumy region, Volodymyr Artyukh, said Russia had deployed a drone with modified munitions that were equipped with shrapnel, describing the weapons as being "used to kill people, not to destroy buildings".

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