The United States and Europe have enough anti-missile systems in their arsenals to be able to send more Patriot batteries to Kyiv without endangering their national security. “In the event that allies have to choose between meeting NATO's capacity objectives and providing more aid to Ukraine, my message is clear: send more to Ukraine,” said the Secretary General of the Atlantic Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, yesterday.
The number of Patriot batteries in the hands of European allies is confidential, he explained, but the figure is “significant” (it is believed to be around one hundred). “Supporting Ukraine and helping them destroy Russian combat capabilities also improves our security,” Stoltenberg defended. “If the only way to support Ukraine is to fall short of NATO capability targets, then that's what you have to do,” he advised after meeting the prime ministers of the Netherlands, Denmark and the Czech Republic to address progress in several initiatives to send F-16 aircraft and ammunition to Kyiv in the face of the “difficult” situation on the battlefield.
Stoltenberg's comments come days after President Volodymyr Zelensky asked his European allies to send seven more Patriot batteries to his country, which in recent days has been suffering from an intense Russian campaign of missile and gliding bomb attacks on cities and infrastructure. critics. This change in strategy led the German government to announce last weekend the dispatch of one more Patriot battery, and has encouraged its partners in NATO and the G-7 to follow suit. It is the same thing that Stoltenberg has recommended to the allies. The Netherlands, Denmark and the Czech Republic are considering doing so, the acting Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, explained after the meeting at the Alliance headquarters, who is considering his nomination as secretary general of the military organization. Rutte suggested that his country could buy Patriot batteries from other allied countries that have them but are reluctant to donate them directly to Ukraine ("We have the money," he stressed).
The precarious situation of Ukraine's air defenses was on the table last night of the leaders of the European Council, also meeting in Brussels, who declared "urgent" the need to "provide defense systems to Ukraine and to accelerate and intensify the delivery of all necessary military assistance, including ammunition and missiles," according to the summit conclusions approved last night. "Ukraine does not need words, but more ammunition and air defense, the Member States understand this and we have had an exhaustive debate on this. And there will be a response in a matter of days and weeks, not months," assured the President of the European Council, Charles Michel.
“For me, this summit is about convincing many leaders so that, when they return home, they look at what they have” in their arsenals “because what it is about is quickly delivering” military material, and specifically anti-missile systems. said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz upon his arrival at the meeting. “I am worried that we are losing focus with Ukraine,” admitted Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda. “It's a shame to see that we make decisions, but we don't implement them,” he added.
Less defeatist, the Prime Minister of Estonia, Kaja Kallas, defended doing with Ukraine “the same” that the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries have done with Israel in terms of air defense to protect itself from the attack with drones and missiles launched by Iran. . “These are the same drones that attack Ukraine day and night,” declared Kallas, alluding to the Iranian manufacture of the Shahed drones used by the Russian army.
Yesterday, President Zelensky himself conveyed this request to European leaders at the beginning of the summit after reporting the recent damage caused by Russia, which includes dams and hydraulic equipment. “Our Ukrainian skies and the skies of our neighbors deserve the same security” as Israel, the Ukrainian president claimed by videoconference. “Ukraine needs air defense systems to stop Putin and his terrorist methods, and so do you,” concluded Zelensky, who has requested the holding, today, of a meeting in Brussels of the NATO-Ukraine Council to address the needs for ammunition and defenses. areas of your country.
