MADRID, May 28, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky called
Monday on the West to "use all means" to force Russia to peace talks during a
visit to Madrid, which pledged one billion euros in military aid as a Russian
offensive gained new ground.

Russia said it has taken two more villages as part of its assault in eastern
Ukraine and NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg urged allies to rethink their
restrictions on using Western weapons to strike inside Russia, a key demand
of the Ukrainian president.

"We need to intensify our joint work with our partners to achieve more.
Security and tangible coercion of Russia to peace by all means," Zelensky
told a joint press conference with Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

On the back foot, Ukraine has been pressing its backers -- especially the
United States -- to allow it to use longer-range weapons they supply to hit
targets inside Russia.

Washington and other allies have been reluctant to permit Kyiv to strike over
the border out of fear that it could drag them closer to direct conflict with
a nuclear-armed Russia.

Zelensky pressed home the point in Madrid.

-- Long-range targets --

"We need to work together and put pressure not only on Russia, but also on
our partners to give us the opportunity to defend ourselves against Russia,"
Zelensky said.

"Even those partners who are afraid to give this or that advice should
understand that air defence is defence, not attack," reiterating his call for
aerial defence systems capable of intercepting the 3,000 aerial bombs hitting
Ukraine each month.

Zelensky was to arrive in Brussels on Tuesday to sign a bilateral security
accord with Belgium and was also expected in Portugal.

And there are signs of a Western rethink on his demands.

Stoltenberg told NATO lawmakers in Sofia that the time had come to reconsider
lifting those restrictions.

"If (Ukraine) cannot attack military targets on Russian territory then it
ties one hand of the Ukrainians on their back and makes it very hard for them
to conduct defence."

On Sunday, however, Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni opposed giving
Ukraine greater flexibility on Russian targets. "I think we have to be very
careful," she told Italian television.

Earlier this month, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said during a
visit to Kyiv that Ukraine had every right to use British-donated missiles to
strike inside Russian territory.

Questioned on Monday, Sanchez was evasive, saying he "had no such desire".

"We will be at Ukraine's side for as long as it takes," Sanchez said,
announcing a military aid package as part of a security pact "to enable
Ukraine to strengthen its defence capabilities."

-- Patriots --

Ukraine is calling for US Patriot air defence systems to counter Russian
bombardments, arguing that it has only a quarter of the resources it needs.

In Madrid, Zelensky said he needed "seven additional Patriot systems,"
including "at least two for Kharkiv," which is close to the Russian border
and is being regularly shelled.

Sanchez said Spain had already sent Patriot missiles to Kyiv, and is "working
with various allied countries to see exactly" how many more launchers can be
sent.

Ukraine's army chief Oleksandr Syrsky said on social media that French
military instructors would soon arrive in the war-battered country and that
he had "signed the documents" so they could start visiting training bases.

Officially no NATO country has instructors in Ukraine and the country's
defence ministry later issued a statement saying that it was still "in
discussions" with France and other countries on the issue.

France's defence ministry said the request was being studied "to understand
their exact needs". French President Emmanuel Macron has not ruled out
sending troops to Ukraine if the conflict worsens.

- Russians take two more villages -

Russia on Monday claimed to have captured two more villages in eastern
Ukraine, where a strike on a hypermarket in Kharkiv, the country's second-
largest city, killed 17 people on Saturday, according to a new toll.

A new strike on an industrial zone in the city killed a woman on Monday,
authorities said.

A separate Russian attack on the village of Snigurivka in the southern
Ukrainian region of Mykolaiv left three dead, including two teenagers, and
wounded six more, the regional governor said.