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From the Liveblog of Tuesday, January 10, 2023

NATO, EU vow more support for Ukraine to defend itself

By AFP 10 January 2023, 2:52 pm Edit

A destroyed Russian tank stands across the road from a church in the town of Sviatohirsk, Ukraine, January 6, 2023. (AP/Evgeniy Maloletka)

NATO and the EU vow to bolster their backing for Ukraine to fight off Russia’s invasion and ramp up cooperation between Europe and the US-led alliance.

“We must continue to strengthen the partnership between NATO and the European Union. And we must further strengthen our support to Ukraine,” NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg says after signing a joint declaration with the EU’s top officials.

Countries in NATO and the EU — which share 21 members — have funneled billions of dollars of arms to Kyiv that have helped it push back Moscow’s forces.

The United States, Germany and France have announced they will now also supply Ukraine with armored fighting vehicles — but Kyiv has pleaded for modern heavy tanks to be sent as well.

“I think that Ukraine should get all the necessary military equipment they need and they can handle to defend the homeland,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says.