Ukraine’s Zelensky: Peace with Russia must Be Achieved This Fall

He made his statement during a meeting with US War Secretary Lloyd Austin at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany. Regular gatherings at Ramstein are designed to coordinate military aid to Kiev.

Zelensky urged Western countries to help arrange joint production of weapons on Ukrainian soil, including drones and missiles.

“To achieve this, we need funding – we are ready to quickly produce everything that will help us bring this war to an end, namely, by putting decisive pressure on Russia for real peace,” Zelensky said, according to his website.

He further noted: “Let’s make this fall a time for Russian aggression to fall – in a way that will end the war and restore a reliable international security order.”

For his part, Austin stressed the importance of weapons manufacturing, saying that the US was “working with Ukraine to design and build a substitute for the S-300 surface-to-air missile system and the R-27 air-to-air missile.”

Washington has set aside more than $200 million to purchase “critical components” to allow Ukraine to make drones and electronic warfare systems, he said.