WORLD NEWS | Heads of state and top diplomats visit Ukraine to express support

ODESSA, April 28 (AP) — Two heads of state and seven foreign ministers from Ukraine’s European supporter group visited the war-torn country on Friday to express support for Kiev’s defense against Russian aggression .

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba hosted his counterparts from four Nordic countries and three Baltic states in the southern port city of Odessa, again pleading to provide his country with U.S.-made fighter jets.

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“(The jets) need to cover our upcoming (counterattack) brigade,” Kuleba said.

While not making any promises, he added, “I feel like our colleagues have a good attitude on this one.”

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Ukraine has long sought, without success, Western fighter jets for its air force. However, its Western partners provided some former Soviet MiG-29 fighters.

Kulleba met with the foreign ministers of Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, Norway, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The Nordic country was represented by a senior foreign ministry official as government formation talks were held in Finland.

“Through this visit, we are showing the great support of the Nordic and Baltic countries for Ukraine and its people,” said Tobias Billström of Sweden, which currently holds the EU’s six-month rotating presidency country.

“Honestly, I don’t remember if Odessa has ever hosted so many foreign ministers at the same time. If this is the first time, we are happy to set new standards together with our colleagues,” Kuleba said.

Also on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with Slovakian President Zuzana Caputova and Czech Republic President Peter Pavel in Kiev.

Zelensky said they discussed military aid to help Ukraine deal with the Russian invasion and “prepare for a counteroffensive,” as well as the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, in July.

“We look forward to ambitious decisions to strengthen European security,” he said. “Now is the time to remove any uncertainty.”

There has long been talk of a Ukrainian spring counteroffensive against invading Russian forces, but it still hasn’t materialized.

Czech President Pawel said what he saw in Ukraine reminded him of the devastation caused by wars in Afghanistan and the former Yugoslavia.

“Fortunately, it didn’t crush the Ukrainians,” said Pavel, a retired army general and former senior NATO official. “I’m not surprised that Russia has shown such a barbaric streak in recent years.” (Associated Press)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)