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KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — New NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte visited Ukraine on Thursday in his first official trip since taking office and pledging the alliance's continued support for Kyiv in its war with Russia.
Rutte met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv as air raid sirens twice went off in the Ukrainian capital.
The new head of NATO vowed when he took office on Tuesday to help shore up Western support for Ukraine, which has been fighting Russia’s full-scale invasion since February 2022 and has for most of this year been on the defensive due to a relentless Russian army push in the country's eastern regions.
Rutte expressed confidence that he can work with whomever is elected president of the United States, the alliance’s most powerful member, in November. That could be a key moment for Ukraine’s effort to ensure continuing Western support.
Zelenskyy said he discussed with Rutte elements of Ukraine's so-called victory plan, ahead of a NATO meeting at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany next week. The gathering draws together defense leaders from the 50-plus partner nations who regularly meet to coordinate weapons aid for the war.
The two also discussed the battlefield situation and the specific needs of Ukrainian military units. Zelenskyy reiterated that Ukraine needs more armaments, including long-range weapons it has long requested.
Asked whether the war in the Middle East will affect the timeline he had envisioned for the victory plan, Zelenskyy noted that the U.S. and Britain say Iran has supplied missiles and drones to Russia for use against Ukraine.
He also appealed for Western countries to scrap restrictions on Ukraine’s use of Western-supplied long-range weapons to strike deep inside Russia.
“Of course, we want Ukraine to not be forgotten. But the best way not to forget about Ukraine is to provide the appropriate weapons and the necessary permissions,” Zelenskyy said. “And to help shoot down ... the same Iranian missiles or drones, just as they are shot down over Israel, to shoot them down in the same way over Ukraine.”
Rutte reiterated the alliance's unwavering support for Ukraine, insisting that “Ukraine is closer to NATO than ever before.”
He said recent steps taken by NATO “build a bridge to NATO membership” for Ukraine, including 40 billion euros ($44 billion) of funding assistance, bilateral security agreements between allies, and the formation of a new NATO command to coordinate assistance and training.
Rutte arrived after a Russian glide bomb struck a five-story apartment block in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, injuring at least 12 people, including a 3-year-old girl, local officials said Thursday.
The bomb hit between the third and fourth floors of the building on Wednesday night, igniting a fire, Kharkiv regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said. Firefighters searched for survivors through smoke and rubble.
The city of Kharkiv, around 30 kilometers (18 miles) from the Russian border, has been a frequent target of aerial attacks throughout the war against Russia that is now deep into its third year.
Increasingly common in the war, glide bombs have terrorized civilians and bludgeoned the Ukrainian army’s front-line defenses. Ukraine has no effective countermeasure for glide bombs, which are launched from Russian aircraft inside Russia.
They were a key weapon in Russia’s capture of the tactically significant town of Vuhledar on Wednesday, as Russian forces wreak destruction on the eastern Donetsk region and force weary Ukrainian troops to withdraw from obliterated towns and villages.
Zelenskyy, at a news conference with Rutte, said it was right for Ukraine to pull its forces out of Vuhledar so that they could live to fight another day. Earlier, he said the latest Kharkiv attack highlighted the urgent need for increased support from Ukraine’s Western allies.
Zelensky recently held talks with officials in the U.S. in an effort to ensure further Western military support.
Russia has had the battlefield initiative since late last year, when a Ukrainian counteroffensive petered out. Ukraine is grappling with a critical manpower problem on the front line and is straining to hold back Russia’s grinding assaults.
Though Russia’s battlefield gains have been incremental, its steady forward movement is adding up as the Ukrainians are pushed backward and yield ground.
Both sides have kept up regular cross-border aerial attacks, usually at night.
Ukraine’s air force said Thursday that 78 out of 105 Shahed drones launched by Russia overnight were destroyed on Thursday as 15 regions of the country came under attack.
The Russian military, meanwhile, intercepted 113 Ukrainian drones overnight, according to a statement by the Defense Ministry in Moscow. The drones were destroyed over four Russian regions on the border with Ukraine — Belgorod, Bryansk, Kursk and Voronezh, it said.
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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine