Ukraine's allies should consider “quickly,

as a next step, providing long-range systems”

and fighter jets to Ukraine, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said Thursday.

Metsola, speaking ahead of an address by Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy,

said the response to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine “must be proportional to the threat,

and the threat is existential.” Zelenskyy has repeatedly lobbied the EU and the

U.S. for long-range missiles and warplanes aimed at driving back an expected Russian offensive this spring.

Zelenskyy made his pitch again Thursday in Brussels, Belgium, before the European Parliament, thanking EU leaders for their support and urging them to provide more weaponry.