Zelensky hails key allies as Sweden this week becomes third country to pledge $1 billion in military aid

Sweden became the third country in days to pledge more than $1 billion (£785 million) in additional military aid to Ukraine as President Volodymyr Zelensky concluded a three-day tour of Europe.

The plan, announced by Defense Minister Pal Jonson, is the largest tranche of support given by Sweden since Vladimir Putin ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, valued at 13.3 billion Swedish crowns. (£981 million).

It comes at a crucial time for Ukraine as Russian forces, emboldened by the advantage gained from a U.S. military program delayed by more than six months, advance across the 640-mile front line.

Swedish aid will include tanks, armored personnel carriers (APCs) and vital artillery ammunition that Ukraine has been lacking for months, as well as financial support for kyiv to purchase additional equipment.

Most importantly, the Swedish set will include two airborne surveillance and control aircraft (ASC 890), which will make it easier for the Ukrainian Air Force to identify long-range targets and will help Ukraine with the planned introduction of F-16 fighter jets donated by others. Western countries.

This package concluded a whirlwind tour by the Ukrainian leader through Spain, Portugal and Belgium. Mr Zelensky secured a billion euros (£851m) in aid from Madrid on Monday and another billion dollars in military aid from Brussels the next day, which included 30 factory-made F-16 fighter jets American. He later got another £107 million from Portugal.

After canceling a previous European tour to focus on developments in Kharkiv – the northeastern region of Ukraine on the border with Russia – Mr Zelensky frantically sought to shore up support from Western allies from kyiv as Putin’s troops advanced in this attack.

Ukraine appears to have stabilized this battle, but Russian forces now hold an additional 65 square miles of territory in Kharkiv, while new attacks to the southeast, in the Donetsk region, continue to strain kyiv’s forces .

Mr. Zelensky said he was “deeply grateful” for the Swedish package, adding in a separate message that Ukraine and its Western allies were “always stronger together.”

“Today, I am pleased to express my deep gratitude to Prime Minister Kristersson, his government and all Swedes for the largest Swedish military aid package announced so far, totaling almost 1.2 billion euros,” he wrote.

Ukrainian author Illia Ponomarenko, the country’s most followed journalist, wrote: “Today is undoubtedly Sweden’s day in Ukraine. »

Ukraine has long requested the F-16s, seeing them as essential to countering Russia’s air threat, and the addition of more than two dozen aircraft, along with ASCs, will be crucial not only for defensive purposes but also for offensive capabilities. Also.

In recent months, Russia has introduced into its arsenal explosives called glide bombs, which are essentially modified dumb bombs with wings and a navigation system capable of leveling multi-story buildings. Hundreds of Ukrainian civilians have been killed this year by hover bomb attacks.

Ukrainian military officials argue that the most effective way to counter this threat is to use F-16s that could remotely strike Russian planes firing glide bombs. At the same time, the ASCs would effectively act as a “force multiplier” for the F-16s, Mr. Jonson wrote on X, extending their ability to strike Russian positions as well as pilots.