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Zelensky, appearing in his trademark army colors and a black sweatshirt, arrived to attend a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, a cadre of dozens of nations organized by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. It marked Zelensky’s first visit to NATO headquarters since the invasion, though he has addressed the allies remotely from Kyiv before.
Zelensky, in brief remarks alongside NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, said at the outset of the meeting that he was recommending that allies support the Israeli people following a terrorist attack by the Hamas militant group that killed hundreds of civilians and prompted Israel to declare war.
Zelensky, who last year blasted Israel for declining to send weapons to Ukraine, has sought to find common cause with the Israelis since the Hamas attack, likening the militants’ tactics to those of Russian soldiers and underscoring the value of public support while under fire.
“It was very important not to be alone. Very important,” Zelensky said, recalling the early days of Russia’s invasion on Wednesday. He added that the allies need to prevent the possibility of “aggressors even to think about that third world war” and initiating a new wave of aggression.
The comments came a day after Zelensky said in an interview that there is a risk that the new war in Israel could distract global attention from Russia’s war against Ukraine. While foreign military support continues to flow, Ukrainian officials and NATO allies have raised concern about Republican lawmakers in Washington seeking to stifle additional aid packages.
On Wednesday, the allies will discuss battlefield aid to Ukraine, focusing in particular on air defense to protect Ukrainian cities through the winter, NATO diplomats said.
In recent weeks, NATO diplomats and officials have voiced concern about Ukrainian readiness for an expected Russian assault on energy and other critical infrastructure. Britain announced on Wednesday additional military support aimed at helping Ukraine defend critical infrastructure and clear minefields, among other things.
“This winter, Russia will seek to undermine the morale of the Ukrainian people and divide the international community, but in both cases Putin underestimates the strength and resilience of his opposition,” Britain’s Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, the chief of the defense staff, said in a statement. “If we stick together, and stay the course, then Russia will continue to lose, Ukraine will prevail and the rules that matter to global security will endure.”
The Pentagon also is expected to announce additional military aid for Ukraine this week, defense officials familiar with the process said, speaking on condition of anonymity before a formal announcement. That package is expected to include an additional $200 million in security assistance, including air-defense missiles, artillery ammunition, antitank missiles, and equipment to clear minefields and counter Russian drones.
Austin said that the allies should expect Russia to again bombard Ukraine this winter with missiles and drones and seek to plunge Ukrainians into “bitter cold and darkness.” “But he will fail,” Austin said. “And we all know it.”
On Thursday, NATO defense ministers will look longer-term in a separate meeting, pushing ahead with plans announced at the alliance’s summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, in July.
The war in Israel and Gaza will likely be discussed as well, diplomats said. In a briefing ahead of the meeting, Julianne Smith, the U.S. ambassador to NATO, downplayed the risk that the crisis in Israel will distract the United States, or the alliance.
“I suspect the United States will be able to stay focused on our partnership and commitment to Israel’s security, while also meeting our commitments and promise to continue supporting Ukraine as it defends its territory and protects and all of the values that all of us hold dear here across the NATO alliance,” she said.
Israel’s relationship with Russia has deteriorated in recent months as Moscow has grown increasingly dependent on Iran for supplies of drones and other weapons used to attack Ukraine. Iran is a major sponsor of Hamas, and Russian President Vladimir Putin has notably refrained from offering condolences to Israel, or condemning Hamas, since the attacks over the weekend.
Instead, Putin and other top officials, including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, have blamed the West for what they called an “escalation in violence.”
As Zelensky visited Brussels, Ukraine’s state security service, the SBU, announced Wednesday that it had identified two Ukrainian “traitors” who provided intelligence to Russian forces to direct a missile attack on a funeral reception in the northeastern village of Hroza last week.
The Oct. 5 attack, which struck a grocery store and cafe where locals had gathered after reburying a local soldier, killed at least 55 people — roughly one-sixth of the village’s population. The dead include one young boy. Three people are still missing.
Russian forces occupied Hroza last year but Ukraine retook control of the village during a surprise counteroffensive last fall.
Just before Ukraine liberated the village, the SBU said in a statement published on Telegram, two local residents, brothers Volodymyr and Dmytro Mamon, fled to Russia and followed instructions from officials there to begin remotely forming “their own networks of informants in the territory controlled by Ukraine.”
The SBU said the two men gathered information “under the guise of friendly conversations” in messages, including about military movements and various events in the region, including the funeral last week.
“Having learned the exact address and time of the event, Volodymyr Mamon gave this information to the Russian occupiers,” the SBU statement said. “The Russians used the received information to carry out a targeted attack on a Ukrainian village using the Iskander M missile.”
Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has claimed with evidence that Western weapons given to Ukraine have ended up in the hands of Hamas and used in the attacks on Israel — allegations that Kyiv dismissed as far-fetched disinformation campaign.
Zelensky, addressing the NATO allies in Brussels on Wednesday, said Putin and Hamas were terrorists who must be defeated.
“Terrorists like Putin, or like Hamas, seek to hold to free and democratic nations as hostages, and they want power over those who seek freedom” the Ukrainian president said. “The terrorists will not change. They just must lose, and that means we must win.”
O’Grady reported from Kyiv. Kostiantyn Khudov in Kyiv contributed to this report.
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