Ukrainian expert: Diplomats working to obtain additional military equipment from West

By the results of the 8th meeting of the contact group on Ukraine at the US base in Ramstein, which did not bring the expected decision on the supply of German Leopard heavy tanks to Ukraine, Ukrainian diplomats continue to work on obtaining additional military equipment from the West, Vladyslav Seleznev, a military expert, retired colonel, ex-Speaker of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, told Report.

According to him, Ukraine had rather high expectations from this meeting: "But it's necessary to understand that in order to supply these tanks, a consolidated decision must be made."

At the same time, the expert stressed that the set of forces that Kyiv will receive following the results of the 8th meeting in the Ramstein format is already impressive.

"Armored vehicles, missiles and other military equipment will help us not only to effectively deter the enemy's offensive, but also to carry out counter-offensive measures," Seleznev noted.

He recalled that the amount of weapons needed for the counteroffensive was announced by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny, namely 300 tanks, 600-700 armored combat vehicles and about 500 guns. The supplies would significantly strengthen the country's military potential.

"We get about 30% of what we need from the declared figures, and 40-50% for some items. But this is still not enough to meet the needs of the Ukrainian army," the expert added.

In this regard, more work needs to be done to ensure the provision of weapons to become stronger, and therefore be more successful in confronting the Russian army, Seleznev concluded.