Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is doing everything he can to protect his country from attacks by Russia. This week, he met with two important U.S. senators in Rome, Italy to talk about getting more help, especially stronger air defenses.
The two American senators were:
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Senator Lindsey Graham (a Republican from South Carolina),
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and Senator Richard Blumenthal (a Democrat from Connecticut).
These lawmakers are working on a new law that will make punishments against Russia even tougher. This is called sanctions — they are rules that make it harder for Russia to do business with other countries or earn money.
Why Air Defense is Important
President Zelenskiy said that Russia is planning to launch attacks using up to 1,000 drones all at once. Drones are flying machines without pilots, and they can be used to drop bombs or spy on places. This kind of massive drone attack can cause a lot of damage and hurt many people.
Zelenskiy said Ukraine needs more “interceptor drones” — these are special drones that can fly up and stop or destroy enemy drones before they hit buildings or people.
He also said Ukraine is working closely with the United States to keep receiving weapons and defense systems, and they are even talking about building some of the weapons together.
Help From Europe Too
Besides the U.S., Germany and Norway have also promised to help Ukraine. Germany agreed to buy two Patriot missile systems for Ukraine. These are advanced machines that can shoot missiles out of the sky. Norway is helping by paying for another one.
Zelenskiy said Ukraine is also ready to buy big defense packages from U.S. companies with help from European countries.
Russia’s Recent Attacks
Russia has been attacking Ukraine harder lately. On one night alone, they used 400 drones and 18 missiles, and most of them were aimed at Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine.
On another night, they broke a record by launching 728 drones! That’s a huge number and shows why Ukraine urgently needs better protection in the sky.
U.S. Support Moving Forward
Good news came when Zelenskiy said the United States is ready to send more military aid again, after a short pause last week. He also met with Keith Kellogg, who represents former U.S. President Donald Trump in talks about Ukraine. Trump has already agreed to send more defensive weapons, and he’s thinking of adding even more punishments for Russia.
A New Law to Pressure Russia
Zelenskiy and the U.S. senators also talked about a new law that would punish other countries that are still buying Russian oil, gas, uranium, and other goods. The law would charge a 500% tariff on those products. That means the price would go up five times more, making it much harder for those countries to trade with Russia.
Zelenskiy said these kinds of actions are strong tools that can help bring peace faster and make talks with Russia more serious.
