dpa
Kiev/London
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged Western allies to directly shoot down Russian missiles and drones over Ukraine as happened during Iran’s massive missile and drone attack on Israel earlier in April.
"There must be a collective will to shoot them down just as there was with the Iranian missiles and drones,” he said the European Political Community (EPC) summit in Blenheim Palace near Oxford on Thursday.
Missiles and drones are not carriers of state sovereignty. "These steps must be taken,” Zelensky said, mentioning the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Poland by name.
"Your bravery can be decisive for peace,” Zelenksy said, addressing the leaders directly.
In April, a major Iranian attack on Israel with over 300 missiles and drones was repelled with the help of US, British and French fighter jets and air-defence systems.
However, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has rejected this suggestion. "We will not become a party to the conflict. That is why we are supporting Ukraine in destroying Russian aircraft, but NATO will not be directly involved,” Stoltenberg said last week.
In its morning report on Thursday, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported heavy Russian attacks on the front in the east of the country.
The military said that on the section near the small town of Toretsk alone there had been 29 Russian assaults, sometimes using glide bombs dropped from aircraft. A village named Niu-York (New York) also particularly contested in the area.