Biden announces additional air defence for Ukraine at NATO summit
US President Joe Biden has announced the transfer of additional air defence systems to Ukraine – the USA will provide an additional Patriot battery.
Source: Biden's speech at the opening of the NATO summit in Washington; Voice of America; Zelenskyy on Twitter
Details: Two Patriot batteries, as promised, will be provided by Germany and Romania.
Another one will be jointly assembled by the Netherlands with other partners. Italy will send an SAMP/T system.
In addition, the USA and partners plan to provide Ukraine with "dozens of air defence systems", including NASAMS, HAWK, IRIS-T, and Gepard, in the coming months.
Updated: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on X that the first working day at the NATO summit in Washington began with the result.
Quote from Zelenskyy: "Additional Patriots, SAMP/T, and IRIS-T SLM, as well as other tactical air defence systems provided to Ukraine by partners, will assist us in destroying Russian drones and missiles and better protecting Ukrainians from Russian air terror, such as yesterday's brutal attack on our main children's hospital."
Details: Zelenskyy said this is another important step after the US's decision to prioritise the supply of missiles for air defence to Ukraine.
Zelenskyy also expressed gratitude to President Biden for his leadership and to all partner countries, "I am grateful to our partners – the United States, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, and Romania – for adopting a strong declaration in support of Ukraine’s air defence system to protect its people, cities, and critical infrastructure".
European Pravda noted that four of the five "new" systems announced by Biden were already known about. Moreover, one of them, the German system, has already been put into service with the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Based on this, Biden's announcement essentially refers to the supply of one more new Patriot system, which will be provided by the US itself, and a significant number of shorter-range systems.
Background:
- Earlier, the US gave a "very positive response" to Ukraine's request for seven Patriots during the NATO summit.
- In addition, Germany recently reported the shipment of ammunition to Ukraine for the Patriots.
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