Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba says whoever controls the skies will determine “when and how the war will end.”

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said his country’s priority for 2024 is to take control of its skies as the Russian invasion approaches its third year.

whoever controls the sky will define “when and how the war will end,” Kuleba said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Ukraine has long called on the West to supply advanced fighter aircraft support his troops anchored in the south and east of the country.

“We are fighting against a powerful enemy, a very great enemy that never sleeps. It takes time,” Kuleba said.

“We defeated them on land in 2022. We defeated them at sea in 2023 and we are fully focused on defeating them in the air in 2024.”

Various NATO countries are currently training Ukrainian pilots on US-made F-16 fighter jets. Denmark announced this month that it will transfer 19 F-16s in the second quarter of this year.

The United States had previously refused to allow the jet transfers for fear of being viewed by Russia as a direct belligerent Ukraine war.

The conflict has reached a stalemate over the past year as Ukraine’s long-awaited counteroffensive failed to push back Russian forces. Kuleba also called on his country’s key Western supporters for patience and insisted that with the right support, Ukraine can be victorious.

More EU support likely

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed confidence on Wednesday that all European Union member states would agree to a joint extension more financial help to Ukraine.

I am proud that our Union answered Ukraine’s call.

Ukraine’s democratic institutions fulfill our recommendations and the wishes of its people.

We are now starting the screening process ↓ pic.twitter.com/GQHjaASZHq

— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) January 17, 2024

“I am proud that our union followed Ukraine’s call,” she told the European Parliament.

EU leaders agreed last month to start accession negotiations with Ukraine, but Hungary rejected providing 50 billion euros ($54 billion) in aid to Kiev until 2027.

Hungary has resisted agreeing on an aid package, opening the possibility that the other 26 countries would provide funds to Ukraine under separate bilateral agreements with Kiev.

The bloc’s 27 leaders will meet in Brussels on February 1 to try to agree on more financial support for Kiev.

Trade conflict between Russia and Ukraine

At least 17 people were injuredtwo of them seriously after Russian rockets hit residential buildings in the city of Kharkiv overnight.

Regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov said two S-300 missiles hit buildings in the center of Ukraine’s second-largest city on Tuesday evening, sending 14 people to hospital.

Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said the rockets hit “exactly where there is no military infrastructure and exactly where there are actually residential buildings.”

“There are at least 10 damaged buildings. Rescue teams continue to search the rubble,” he wrote on Telegram. “And there’s a lot of debris.”

According to Ukrainian authorities, at least three people were injured and residential buildings were damaged in the nightly drone attacks in the southern port city of Odessa.

According to the Ukrainian military, the Russian attack targeted Odessa and other southern regions for at least three hours.

Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Wednesday that its air defense forces had destroyed seven Vilcha surface-to-air missiles and four drones over Russia’s Belgorod region.

Four RM-70 Vampire missiles were later destroyed and two drones were intercepted, the ministry added.