Slava Raytheon: Zelensky To Headline Conference Of US Defense Companies

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has throughout much of the six-month long Ukraine war been busy rallying support to his side by addressing dozens of Western countries' parliaments, for which Ukraine has since been rewarded with billions of dollars in foreign defense and humanitarian aid. His foremost theme has been a constant refrain of his military urgently needing more, more and more weapons. He's even requested advanced fighter jets, months ago asking Congress to "close the skies" (or in essence a No Fly Zone).

Now for the first time it seems he'll go straight to the source, as he's set to be the keynote speaker, via video link, to a major meeting of American defense contractors later this month. The Hill is confirming that "he headlines the annual Future Force Capabilities Conference and Exhibition hosted by the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA)" in Austin, Texas on September 21.

Ukraine's defense minister Oleksii Reznikov is also scheduled to address the conference. Naturally, both are expected to emphasize a message that more and heavier arms are needed if Ukrainian forces hope to sustain their eastern and southern counteroffensive, which in the last days has been widely reported as successful - at least so far.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov has on Saturday admitted his army has had to "regroup" troops from Balakliya and Izyum in Kharkiv Oblast. This is being taken as a sign Ukraine's military is being pushed back from Kharkiv and could be taking heavy losses, with the day prior Zelensky announcing Ukraine has taken back over 30 settlements in the region.