By Kontur and AFP | 2024-09-10

FRANKFURT -- Germany's government is urging intensified diplomatic efforts to attain peace in Ukraine, as Kyiv's allies are continuing to pledge additional military support.

Germany is the second largest contributor of aid to Ukraine after the United States, and Olaf Scholz's government has repeatedly pledged to keep up the support for "as long as it takes."

"I believe that now is the time to discuss how we can get out of this war situation and achieve peace more quickly," Scholz told public broadcaster ZDF September 8.

Scholz said Russia should attend the next international peace summit on ending the war, after Moscow was excluded from the first one.

"It's important that we make progress," Scholz said.

"There will definitely be another peace conference," he said, "and the [Ukrainian] president and I agree that it must include Russia."

Leaders and top officials from more than 90 states gathered in Switzerland in June for a first summit organized by Ukraine, while Russia was not invited.

Kyiv is aiming for a second peace summit this year, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in late July Russia should be present in order to achieve "meaningful results."

Italy backs Kyiv's 'legitimate defense'

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni reaffirmed her support for Ukraine's "legitimate defense" September 7 in talks with Zelenskyy, as he visited allies to press for more weapons to fight Russia.

"We must not give up on Ukraine," Meloni said after their meeting on the sidelines of an economic forum in Cernobbio, Italy, which Zelenskyy had addressed September 6.

Zelenskyy arrived at the European House-Ambrosetti forum after pressing for more weapons at a meeting of allies earlier that day at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, where Washington unveiled $250 million (€226.3 million) in new military aid.

The trip came just days after one of the deadliest strikes of the war, with 55 people killed in a Russian strike September 3 in Poltava, and as Russian forces advance in Donbas.

Meloni's government has been among the strongest supporters of Ukraine since Russian forces invaded in February 2022, sending aid and weapons.

Meloni told Zelenskyy that supporting Ukraine was key to Italy's G7 presidency this year and reiterated Rome's commitment to "legitimate defense of Ukraine and a just and lasting peace," her office said.

After the closed-door meeting, she told the forum the position of European Union and NATO member Italy on Ukraine was "extremely serious, determined and clear."

Helping Ukraine fight back against its vastly more powerful neighbor had created the "stalemate" conditions in which peace could be discussed, Meloni said.

Allowing Ukraine to fall "will not bring peace, it will bring chaos" and economic consequences "more serious than what it costs today to support Ukraine," she said.

UK aid

The United Kingdom will send Ukraine 650 new specialist missile systems to boost its air defenses, UK Defence Secretary John Healey announced at the Ramstein conference September 6.

The first batch of the Lightweight Multirole Missile (LMM) systems -- made by French defense group Thales -- were set to be dispatched by the end of the year.

"This new commitment will give an important boost to Ukraine's air defences and demonstrates our new government's commitment to stepping up support for Ukraine," Healey said in a statement.

"In recent days we have seen the tragic cost of Russia's indiscriminate strikes on Poltava and Lviv," he said.

"These new UK-made missiles will support Ukraine to defend its people, infrastructure, and territory."

The new missile order comes days after Healey told Ukrainian counterpart Rustem Umerov that Britain would "ramp up support over the coming months" during talks in London.

He confirmed that £300 million (€355.5 million) worth of artillery ammunition would start to arrive in Ukraine within months, according to the UK Ministry of Defence.

The latest missile package was part of efforts to "step up UK and European defence production," the ministry said.

The United Kingdom has already provided hundreds of LMMs to Ukraine for air defense, the ministry noted, adding they had been used to destroy Russian drones and other aerial threats.

Britain has been one of Kyiv's biggest backers in its fight against Russia's full-scale invasion, supplying long-range Storm Shadow cruise missiles and a squadron of 14 Challenger 2 tanks deployed early last year.

Sweden's pledge

Sweden's government on September 9 announced it was pledging €401 million in military aid to Ukraine including assault craft and air defense systems.

The package is the Nordic country's 17th aid package to Ukraine, bringing the total value of Sweden's military aid pledged to Ukraine since the 2022 Russian invasion to €4.4 billion.

The latest package would include six Combat Boat 90 (CB90) naval assault craft and portable anti-air systems as well as ammunition for previously donated weaponry, including for the infantry fighting vehicle CV90.

In addition, the package included additional AT4 recoilless anti-tank launchers.

Previously, Sweden has sent its Archer mobile artillery system and 50 of its CV90 armored combat vehicles, as well as "around 10" Leopard 2 tanks and anti-air missile systems.