Zelenskyy announced convening of Ukraine-NATO Council
Photo: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
Ukraine seeks to convene a NATO meeting to discuss the supply of arms and air defense systems, stated President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his address.
According to him, Ukraine works every day to improve its relations with partners. In particular, this is necessary in order to receive more tangible assistance.
"For the sake of achieving true equality in protection against terror, when the same, truly equal rules will apply for us here in Ukraine, in Europe, and in other parts of the world, when we face the same manifestations of terror, the same strikes of rockets and drones. Over these two days, we have heard about almost everything. About different conflicts - here, in Europe, and in the Middle East - different levels of threats, different airspace. Although the same Shaheds and ballistic threats... About different threats of escalation. But are human lives different, is human dignity different? No. We value every life equally. We must value it," Zelenskyy said.
He announced that Ukraine will request the convening of a meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Council. It will address issues of protecting the sky from Russian strikes, supplying air defense systems, and corresponding missiles.
Air Defense systems for Ukraine
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion by the Russian Federation, Ukraine has been working on strengthening its air defense systems. However, the need for anti-aircraft defense has become more pressing following the resumption of Russian strikes on energy facilities.
In particular, Germany has pledged to assist Ukraine in finding air defense systems. According to the German government, Berlin will review its stockpiles and search worldwide for air defense systems that can be transferred to Ukraine. Later, Germany announced the transfer of an additional Patriot system to Ukraine.
According to Zelenskyy, for the complete protection of Ukrainian airspace from Russian drones and missiles, 25 Patriot systems are needed. However, not only Patriot systems are a priority, but also Samp-T systems, which are also capable of intercepting ballistic threats. As of today, Ukraine is negotiating the acquisition of two Patriot batteries and one Samp-T battery.
