Zelenskyy presses for air defence in Brussels as Russian drones hit Lutsk

Volodymyr Zelenskyy spent Thursday in Brussels going from one European leader to the next with the same request: more air defence, and quickly. The Ukrainian president arrived as Russia stepped up its attacks on Ukraine’s power network, days after a US-announced pause on energy strikes fell apart.

“Already in Brussels with my team to attend the European Council meeting and hold talks with our partners,” he wrote on arrival. He is due to address EU leaders on Friday morning.

Interceptors and jets

His first meeting was with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. Zelenskyy said Russia had answered “yet another attempt by the American President to reduce the intensity of strikes” with new waves of ballistic missiles and near-constant drone raids, about 1,000 drones since the previous day. He linked the damage partly to restrictions on Starlink in Ukraine and said the country needed ballistic missile interceptors and munitions for its F-16s.

“We are working on new air defense packages,” he said after the talks. “Literally every day and every hour, new packages can save the lives of Ukrainians.”

While he was meeting French President Emmanuel Macron in the evening, Russian drones struck energy infrastructure in the city of Lutsk. “There are power outages in the city,” Zelenskyy said, adding that Russia had “demonstratively disregarded” President Donald Trump’s proposal for an energy ceasefire.

He said France would provide new packages for Ukraine’s combat aviation this month, and that work on a European anti-ballistic shield would speed up. “FREYJA needs to become operational by the end of the year,” he said. He also thanked Macron for weapons production licences France had promised and Ukraine has now received.

With Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever, the talk was of fighter jets. Zelenskyy said almost 15,000 people in Volyn region had lost power that evening and parts of Kyiv were partly without electricity, with repair crews in some places unable to start work for fear of follow-up “double-tap” strikes. “Right now, F-16s are helping significantly in repelling attacks by jet-powered ‘shaheds’,” he said. “We are working with Belgium to receive additional fighter jets as soon as possible.”

Sanctions and money

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk offered condolences and promised continued help. Zelenskyy said 52 people had been injured across Ukraine that day alone, and thanked Tusk for his position on sanctions: “there must be no steps that help Russia continue this war.”

The last meeting of the night, with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, turned to how Denmark can help pay for Ukraine’s resilience through the winter. Zelenskyy said Moscow had read talk of easing sanctions as a green light to keep hitting homes and substations, and that it was “critically important for everyone in Europe to mobilize”. He said Ukraine “can always count on Denmark.” He also had an audience with King Philippe of the Belgians.

What happens on Friday

EU leaders are set to discuss support for Ukraine on the second day of their summit. Zelenskyy is also scheduled to meet the presidents of the European Council and the European Commission, and the prime ministers of Hungary, Finland and Sweden.

Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief, said on Thursday that Europe should put pressure on Russia rather than push Ukraine to give in. “The majority of Russia’s funding for the war comes from oil revenue,” she said.