Ukraine war briefing: Zelenskiy to Nato – shoot down Russian missiles in our skies

Armed forces of neighbouring Nato countries could intercept incoming Russian missiles over Ukrainian territory, Voldymyr Zelenskiy has said. Ukraine’s president told Reuters: “Russians are using 300 planes on the territory of Ukraine. We need at least 120, 130 planes to resist in the sky,” he said. Ukraine is waiting for the delivery of F-16 fighter jets. Zelenskiy said that if countries could not supply the planes straight away, they could still fly them from neighbouring Nato states and shoot down Russian missiles.

The Ukrainian president said Kyiv was negotiating with international partners to use their weapons to strike Russian military hardware at the border and further inside Russian territory. “So far, there is nothing positive,” he said. Zelenskiy reiterated that he had not broken agreements with allies not to use their weapons inside Russia. “We can’t put the whole volume of weapons at risk.”

Ukraine’s allies should lift such restrictions, the Lithuanian foreign minister, Gabrielius Landsbergis, has said. “From the beginning we have made the mistake of limiting the Ukrainians because it could be seen as an escalation,” he said, adding that Ukraine’s supporters were “dominated by fear of Russia … the Ukrainians must be allowed to use the equipment provided to them so that they can achieve strategic objectives. They must be able to strike Russian territory, supply lines, and military units preparing to attack Ukraine. Only one side has rules imposed on it,” he said. “We must abandon these rules that we created.”

Western military trainers should return to Ukraine to speed up the training of new forces, Landsbergis said. “Lithuania is ready to rejoin a coalition headed by France, for example, to train Ukrainian soldiers in Ukraine.” Speaking to French media he also suggested “the French could really have a leadership position, by deploying anti-aircraft defence elements in the Baltic states and then convincing other allies to manage rotations there.”

Landsbergis said he opposed the idea of asking Beijing to pressure Moscow to stop the war, saying it risked creating a dependence on China. “There is no free lunch, China will always demand a price,” he said. “By asking China to resolve a conflict in Ukraine, we’d be putting the keys to our security in their hands by not resolving the situation ourselves.”

Zelenskiy said the situation on the battlefield was “one of the most difficult” since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. “A very powerful wave [of fighting] is going on in Donbas … No one even notices that there are actually more battles in the east of the country, specifically in the Donbas direction: Kurakhove, Pokrovsk, Chasiv Yar.” He added, however, that the situation north of Kharkiv was now “under control”.

A convoy of 20 vehicles from London’s ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) scrappage scheme arrived in Ukraine over the weekend, a charity said. British-Ukrainian Aid (BUAID) said the vehicles would be used for humanitarian and medical purposes. More than 100 vehicles have been donated to Ukraine through the Ulez programme since this was permitted from 15 March, with around half arriving so far. BUAID said a further 13 vehicles were en route.