Following NATO’s decision to further strengthen Ukraine’s air defences, President Volodymyr Zelensky has expressed reserved satisfaction.
“We in Ukraine appreciate the efforts of every leader, every state that is really active, keeps its promises and tries to improve the capabilities of our air defence,” Zelensky said on Friday evening in his daily video address, which was unusually brief.
Defence ministers from NATO states promised Ukraine the delivery of additional air-defence systems at a crisis meeting earlier Friday with Zelensky, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said following the meeting via videoconference in Brussels.
The Norwegian did not initially say who had made the commitments after the meeting of the group, called the NATO-Ukraine Council.
Concrete announcements are to be made by individual member states in the coming days. According to Stoltenberg, countries that do not have any available air-defence systems themselves have agreed to provide financial support for the purchase of systems for Ukraine.
Only last weekend, Berlin had promised Ukraine the delivery of a third Patriot air-defence system from German stocks.
“Ukraine needs air defence, and our partners can help,” said Zelensky. “We need artillery, and the world has it.” Only a sufficient number of air defence systems and fighter aircraft could protect Ukraine from Russian airstrikes, he added. “Solutions are necessary, solutions are possible.”
