Zelensky urges allies to use 'all means' to force Russia into peace talks

MADRID, Spain — Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky called Monday on the West to "use all means" to force Russia to peace talks during a visit to Madrid, which pledged one billion euros in military aid as a Russian offensive gained new ground.

Russia said it has taken two more villages as part of its assault in eastern Ukraine and NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg urged allies to rethink their restrictions on using Western weapons to strike inside Russia, a key demand of the Ukrainian president.

"We need to intensify our joint work with our partners to achieve more. Security and tangible coercion of Russia to peace by all means," Zelensky told a joint press conference with Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

On the back foot, Ukraine has been pressing its backers -- especially the United States -- to allow it to use longer-range weapons they supply to hit targets inside Russia.

Washington and other allies have been reluctant to permit Kyiv to strike over the border out of fear that it could drag them closer to direct conflict with a nuclear-armed Russia.

Zelensky pressed home the point in Madrid.

"We need to work together and put pressure not only on Russia, but also on our partners to give us the opportunity to defend ourselves against Russia," Zelensky said.

"Even those partners who are afraid to give this or that advice should understand that air defence is defence, not attack," reiterating his call for aerial defence systems capable of intercepting the 3,000 aerial bombs hitting Ukraine each month.

Zelensky was to arrive in Brussels on Tuesday to sign a bilateral security accord with Belgium and was also expected in Portugal.

And there are signs of a Western rethink on his demands.

Stoltenberg told NATO lawmakers in Sofia that the time had come to reconsider lifting those restrictions.

"If (Ukraine) cannot attack military targets on Russian territory then it ties one hand of the Ukrainians on their back and makes it very hard for them to conduct defence."

On Sunday, however, Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni opposed giving Ukraine greater flexibility on Russian targets. "I think we have to be very careful," she told Italian television.

Earlier this month,