Zelenskiy seeks allies' support on air defence, long-range strikes at Ramstein talks

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrived at Ramstein Air Base in Germany and said he would push for "strong" decisions by Western allies to allow Kyiv to carry out long-range strikes into Russia and bring peace closer.

After Russia pummelled Ukraine with hundreds of drones and missiles in recent weeks, Kyiv repeated that it had an urgent need for greater air defence and long-range strike capacity to defend itself against Russia's 30-month-old full-scale invasion.

"We need to have these long-range capabilities not only on the ... territory of Ukraine but also on Russian territory, so that Russia is motivated to seek peace," he told a meeting of the Ramstein group of some 50 nations that supply arms to Kyiv.

It was the first time that Zelenskiy joined the gathering of defence ministers at the U.S. air base Ramstein in western Germany.

Zelenskiy planned to join a session of the Contact Group on Ukraine's defence, in addition to a meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius. The Ukrainian leader also plans to meet with the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz during his visit.

Zelenskiy will then travel to Italy to attend the Ambrosetti international economic forum with Italian business representatives, according to a statement he posted on the Telegram messaging app.

Zelenskiy said he also planned to have talks with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni as he seeks to coordinate positions with allies in the Group of Seven (G7) major industrialised countries.

(Reporting by Anastasiia Malenko; editing by Jason Neely and Mark Heinrich)