European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. File photoMOSCOW, Apr 17The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in an interview with the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag, called on the EU countries to quickly supply weapons to Ukraine, noting that she does not distinguish «between heavy and light weapons.» «All member countries (of the European Union), who can, must quickly deliver (weapons to Ukraine — ed.), because only then Ukraine can withstand its difficult defensive struggle,» von der Leyen said in an interview with the Bild am Sonntag newspaper. The head of the European Commission added that she does not make a distinction «between heavy and light weapons» that can be delivered to the territory of Ukraine. On Monday, the head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, following a meeting in Luxembourg of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the EU countries, said that the EU foreign ministers had agreed to continue military assistance to Ukraine, in particular, they would increase the supply of weapons amid fears of increased military action in the east.
The Russian Armed Forces shot down a Ukrainian plane with a large consignment of Western weaponsIn early April, Nikolai Kobrinets, director of the department for pan-European cooperation of the Russian Foreign Ministry, in an interview with RIA Novosti, said that the weapons supplied by the European Union to Kiev would, after some time, spread uncontrollably across Europe and could fall into the hands of terrorists. Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years.» For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine», to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for «bloody crimes against civilians» in Donbass. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces strike only at military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops and , on March 25, completed the main tasks of the first stage — significantly reduced the combat potential of Ukraine. The main goal in the Russian military department was called the liberation of Donbass.
