President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says Ukraine has shown Russia's military is stoppable as he made a surprise visit to the Baltics to help ensure continued aid to his country amid a wave of massive Russian aerial barrages.
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Zelenskiy met with his Lithuanian counterpart, Gitanas Nauseda, on January 10 to discuss military aid, training, and joint demining efforts during the previously unannounced trip, which will also take him to Estonia and Latvia.
“We have proven that Russia can be stopped, that deterrence is possible,” he said after talks with Nauseda on what is the Ukrainian leader's first foreign trip of 2024.
"Today, Gitanas Nauseda and I focused on frontline developments. Weapons, equipment, personnel training, and Lithuania's leadership in the demining coalition are all sources of strength for us," Zelenskiy later wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Lithuania has been a staunch ally of Ukraine since the start of Russia's unprovoked full-scale invasion, which will reach the two-year mark in February.
Nauseda said EU and NATO member Lithuania will continue to provide military, political, and economic support to Ukraine, and pointed to the Baltic country's approval last month of a 200 million euro ($219 million) long-term military aid package for Ukraine.
Russia's invasion has turned Ukraine into one of the most mined countries in the world, generating one of the largest demining challenges since the end of World War II.
"Lithuania is forming a demining coalition to mobilize military support for Ukraine as efficiently and quickly as possible," Nauseda said.
"The Western world must understand that this is not just the struggle of Ukraine, it is the struggle of the whole of Europe and the democratic world for peace and freedom," Nauseda said.
Ukraine has pleaded with its allies to keep supplying it with weapons amid signs of donor fatigue in some countries.
There is continued disagreement between Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. Congress on continuing military aid for Kyiv, while a 50 billion euro ($55 billion) aid package from the European Union remains blocked due to a Hungarian veto.
But a NATO allies meeting in Brussels on January 10 made it clear that they will continue to provide Ukraine with major military, economic, and humanitarian aid. NATO allies have outlined plans to provide "billions of euros of further capabilities" in 2024 to Ukraine, the alliance said in a statement.
Zelensky warned during the news conference with Nauseda that delays in Western aid to Kyiv would only embolden Moscow.
"[Russian President Vladimir Putin] is not going to stop. He wants to occupy us completely," Zelenskiy said. "And sometimes, the insecurity of partners regarding financial and military aid to Ukraine only increases Russia's courage and strength."
Since the start of the year, Ukraine has been subjected to several massive waves of Russian missile and drone strikes that have caused civilian deaths and material damage.
Zelenskiy said on January 10 that Ukraine badly needs advanced air-defense systems.
"In recent days, Russia hit Ukraine with a total of 500 devices: We destroyed 70 percent of them," Zelenskiy said. "Air-defense systems are the No. 1 item that we lack."
Ukraine sounded an all-out air-raid alert earlier on January 10, and later in the day a Russian strike on the eastern city of Kharkiv injured nine people, regional Governor Oleh Synyehubov said.
The injuries occurred when a civilian target was damaged, he said, without specifying what was hit. An inspection of the location was ongoing late on January 10, he said, adding that cars were on fire.
Synyehubov also said that Russian forces had previously hit Kharkiv's Kyiv district with S-300 missiles. Kharkiv is under fire almost every day, usually from S-300 antiaircraft missile systems positioned in Russia in the territory of Belgorod.