“Air Defense Systems” – Zelenskyj asks EU for more weapons and ammunition

“We need enough air defense systems to prevent Russia from leaving people without heating and electricity in the winter,” Zelenskyy said. The president justified his request with the attacks on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea, which led to several leaks in the pipelines. “Never before has our continent faced such a threat – the threat of the destruction of underwater pipelines, cables and tunnels,” he said. “But you can expect something like that from Russia now.” The Moscow government has denied responsibility for the attacks.

“Standing on the Brink of Nuclear Disaster”
Selenskyi again called for a withdrawal of Russian troops from the occupied Ukrainian nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhya. “We are all on the brink of nuclear disaster following the capture of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant by Russian forces,” he said. In addition, the president urged rapid reconstruction aid. He hopes for a “substantial discussion” on this at a reconstruction conference scheduled for October 25 in Berlin, to which German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has invited.

The EU’s 27 heads of state or government, including Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP), met on Friday for an informal summit in Prague to discuss measures to combat high energy prices. It is still disputed where the price should be regulated. 15 EU countries had recently called for a cap on the gas price for both European wholesalers and the import price. Nehammer warned of an “embargo on Russian gas through the back door”.