‘Why not a similar decision…’: Zelensky says West jointly launches missiles in Israel but is ‘afraid’ to do so in Ukraine – Firstpost

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused the West on Friday of being too “fearful” to even consider the possibility of Russian missiles and drones being fired at Ukraine, even though it was helping Israel to do so.

In view of massive Russian missile and drone attacks, Kiev is asking its allies for help in firing the weapons from their own territory. This would save the lives of Ukrainian civilians without harming Russian soldiers, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry emphasizes.

“If the allies are jointly launching missiles and drones in the Middle East, why is there still no similar decision to jointly launch Russian missiles and (Iranian) Shahed missiles over Ukraine?” Zelensky said at a conference in Kyiv, adding: “They are afraid even to say: 'We are working on it.'”

“And this is not even happening when missiles and drones are literally heading for the territory of our neighbors,” he said, calling it “humiliating for the democratic world.”

The West fears a larger conflict and that such a measure would be seen by Russia as a significant escalation.

Kiev is also increasing pressure on Western countries to allow it to use weapons to launch attacks deep into Russian territory, something it has previously been prohibited from doing.

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Thursday that Moscow would be given the green light to use these weapons because NATO countries were “at war with Russia.”