Zelenskyy reveals the painstaking effort behind Ukraine's missile supply
Photo: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Getty Images)
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine is collecting hundreds of missiles by receiving one or two at a time directly from foreign leaders. He made the remarks during a briefing in New York, according to Suspilne.
The president was responding to a journalist's question about how many missiles Ukraine receives at a time.
"Two at a time. One at a time. We are taking steps... that we will talk about after the war. No one talks about hundreds or thousands. Hundreds are being collected one or two missiles at a time. That's how difficult this work is," Zelenskyy explained.
According to him, those two, three, or five missiles are personally provided by heads of state, and no one else.
"If you ask one team to work with another team, there will be no results. Because this is such a product, such a shortage, such an expensive item," the president added.
Zelenskyy said the only country that could provide large-scale assistance is the United States.
"Obviously, the country that could help on a massive scale is the United States. I am asking President Trump to step up, even though this is a major shortage and even though everyone's stocks are half-empty because of the war in the Middle East, I'll be honest. But we are working with everyone," he said.
It should be noted that the United States has not yet approved a license for the production of Patriot missiles for Ukraine. According to the State Department, diplomatic negotiations on the issue are ongoing.
Earlier, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said US company Raytheon was ready to set up missile production directly in Ukraine. According to him, Kyiv has asked the United States to speed up the process.
Meanwhile, European countries are also trying to address the shortage of air defense systems. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Berlin could help cover the shortage of PAC-3 missiles for Patriot systems, but launching production in Europe would require official authorization and a license from the United States.
