An adviser to the Ukrainian president has thanked North Macedonia for military aid, saying his country will “never forget” the help from the small Western Balkan nation as it battles to hold off Russia’s full-scale invasion.
“A friend arises in a time of difficulty,” Mykhaylo Podolyak, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, wrote on Twitter.
“No matter what the size of your country or the volume of GDP, it matters where your heart is.”
“Many nations today show more courage than half of the [Group of 20 nations]. Like North Macedonia, which lends a hand to Ukraine in the form of tanks and airplanes.”
The Defense Ministry of North Macedonia – a country of about 2.1 million people – last week said it would supply Soviet-era tanks to Ukraine.
It did not mention planes, but some media reports have said North Macedonia will send four warplanes to Ukraine.
North Macedonia’s Defense Ministry said the “decisions made so far do not violate the combat readiness of our army."
On August 3, Russia said it considered North Macedonia's donation of T-72 tanks to Ukraine "a major mistake that will only help the criminal actions of the Kyiv regime."
North Macedonia said the tanks had originally been purchased from Ukraine in 2001 when ethnic Albanians launched an armed insurgency seeking greater autonomy from Skopje.
Ukraine has received substantial military aid from many G20 nations, including the United States and Britain, but many others have so far declined to provide military assistance.