Zelensky complains about lack of anti-aircraft defense

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Zelensky complains about lack of anti-aircraft defense

Russian drones and missiles are increasingly penetrating Ukrainian air defenses. President Zelensky reminds his partners: There are enough anti-aircraft systems in Europe “just lying around.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj complains about the lack of anti-aircraft systems to protect against Russian attacks. “This week unfortunately brought Ukraine brutal Russian attacks on Kharkiv, Donetsk, Sumy, Odessa and Zaporizhia,” Zelensky said in his evening video address. There are drone and missile attacks almost every day. “And at every meeting, at every negotiation with partners who have appropriate air defense systems, the focus is always on providing Ukraine with additional protection from Russian terror.”

Zelensky criticized the partners’ willingness to provide Ukraine with additional air defense systems. “Here in Europe, on the continent, there are enough other air defense systems that could provide really reliable protection for Ukraine,” he said. “And you can’t understand that if air defense systems just sit there, even though each system could save hundreds or even thousands of lives.”

Several people have been killed and injured in Russian drone and missile attacks against Ukrainian cities in recent days. Although the Ukrainian air defense intercepted a large proportion of the drones and missiles, the number of missiles arriving from different directions overloaded the defense options. On Saturday evening, Russia launched new swarms of drones to as yet unknown targets in Ukraine.

Ukraine says it wants to begin preparations for a meeting between President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President-elect Donald Trump. Foreign Minister Andrij Sybiha said this at a press conference with EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell in Kiev. However, Sybiha did not give any details – neither about a time frame nor about the location of a possible meeting. “The dialogue between Trump and Zelensky has already been established,” he said, referring to the two politicians’ most recent telephone conversation a few days ago. “We are open to further cooperation.”

Trump and Zelensky last met in New York at the end of September on the sidelines of the Ukrainian president’s trip to the United States. Zelensky Trump presented the Ukrainian peace plan, which at its core envisages “peace through strength,” recalled Sybiha. The central points of this plan include further Western arms deliveries to Kiev as well as a timely invitation to join NATO. Trump’s election victory has global consequences, emphasized Sybiha. Ukraine hopes this will give it an opportunity to accelerate the path to a just peace.

After Trump moves into the White House on January 20th, Kiev has to fear that US military support could drastically decrease or even be stopped. Since the start of the war in February 2022, the USA, with its arms deliveries and financial aid to Ukraine, has been its most important ally in the fight against the Russian invasion.

Meanwhile, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal, the incumbent US administration of President Joe Biden tried to send additional military support worth billions to Ukraine before the change in the White House in January. Biden wants to give Ukraine a stronger negotiating position and strengthen the defense lines in the east of the country. Among other things, Kiev will receive 500 missiles for the Patriot and Nasams air defense systems in the next few weeks. The Ukrainian Armed Forces, in turn, requested additional missiles for the Atacms artillery system, which have a range of up to 250 kilometers.

In an interview with the “WSJ”, US military officials pointed out that this support for Kiev would noticeably empty its own arsenals. The US government is therefore asking its allies to deliver weapons from their warehouses to Ukraine.