RAMSTEIN AIR BASE: Top US officials hosted emergency talks with allies in Germany on Tuesday on supplying Kyiv with more weapons to fend off Russia's attack, as the UN's chief headed to Moscow in a bid to avert further escalation of the conflict.
The meeting of 40 countries at the US Ramstein Air Base in Germany comes after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Ukraine of only "pretending" to negotiate a cease-fire and warned of a "real" risk of a new world war.
Moscow's war of its neighbour, now in its eighth week, has triggered widespread outrage among Western nations who have provided weapons and other assistance to Ukraine's embattled President Volodymyr Zelensky.
But the Western powers have been reluctant to deepen their direct involvement, wary of drawing Moscow's ire and sparking military confrontations beyond Ukraine's borders.
"We believe that they can win if they have the right equipment, the right support," US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said following his visit to Kyiv on Sunday with Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
The two officials promised $700 million in new aid to Ukraine, after months of pleas by Zelensky for heavier firepower.
And Germany said it would begin supplying anti-aircraft tanks, a clear shift after refusing for weeks to provide more advanced equipment, and a sign that Berlin was abandoning its cautious approach towards Moscow.
Military specialists said Western allies wanted to equip Ukrainian forces to halt the long-range bombings by Russia in the eastern Donbas region, which aim to push back Ukraine's troops so that Russian tanks and troops can move in.
Attack drones, anti-aircraft missiles and sophisticated intelligence from Western agencies could prove vital for slowing the advance of Russia's military might, they said.
But stoking fears of a wider conflict, several blasts were reported on Tuesday in the neighbouring ex-Soviet state of Moldova, in the Russian-backed separatist region of Transnistria.
In Moscow, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was to hold his first in-person talks with Putin since the fighting began on February 24.
"We are extremely interested in finding ways in order to create the conditions for effective dialogue, create the conditions for a ceasefire as soon as possible, create the conditions for a peaceful solution," Guterres said at the start of talks with Lavrov. - AFP
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