Zelenskiy urges Western allies to boost Ukraine’s air defences
- 17 December, 11:59
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has called on the United States and Europe to bolster Kyiv’s air defences as his country is bracing for more large-scale Russian strikes.
Zelenskiy made the remarks in a video address to the summit of the countries participating in the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) on Tuesday.
Zelenskiy reminded the participating countries that Russia launched massive missile attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure with the use of 94 missiles and nearly 200 attack drones on last Friday, adding that Moscow will not stop.
“We know, this is just a pause, and Russia will try to strike again as soon as they are ready. They always do this. That is why we need a reliable guarantee of protection against air terror, and this means having enough air defense systems,” the Ukrainian leader said. Furthermore, Zelenskiy called for the supply of air defence systems in line with the agreements reached at the NATO summit in Washington in July this year. In particular, he asked for 12 to 15 more systems to fully protect Ukraine from Russian missile strikes.
“We remember that, to compensate for the inability to invite Ukraine to join the Alliance at that stage, a significant number of air defense systems were promised to us. And I ask for your help to deliver on this,” Zelenskiy went on saying, addressing in particular, the US and Europe.
It should be noted that during the meeting with the head of the Socialists and Democrats group in the European Parliament, Iratxe Perez Garcia in Kyiv on December 10, Zelenskiy said Ukrine needed additional 10 to 12 Patriot systems to protect its sky.
