The German chancellor Olaf Solz on Wednesday called on the rest of the Europeans to follow the example of Germany, which announced that it is sending an additional American-made Patriot air defense system in Ukraine.
The systems of the press show “immediately” how necessary they are and “we want to encourage others to do it”, he said while attending the summit of 27 yesterday.
Berlin announced on Saturday that it is sending another Patriot array to help Kiev repel Russian attacks on cities and energy infrastructure, which have multiplied in recent weeks. This is the third array of this type that Berlin provided to the Ukrainian army.
The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky he thanked Germany and urged other Western countries to “follow this example”, a call he repeated yesterday while addressing the 27 summit via video conference.
“Thank you Olaf, for your efficiency. However, we need more,” he said, pointing to the attack in the city of Chernihiv, which killed 17 people, to illustrate the urgency of the need.
“We need the (air defense) systems you have in Ukraine, we need them to prevent (Russian President Vladimir) Putin from continuing his terrorist methods,” he added.
Ukraine has been persistently asking its Western allies to send it air defense systems, above all Patriots, which are considered effective in intercepting ballistic missiles.
According to the head of European diplomacy Giuseppe BorrellKiev recently asked its allies to send it seven Patriot arrays out of the roughly one hundred it said it could have in total. Several European countries, including the Netherlands, have such systems — the Netherlands has announced that it has provided at least one to the Ukrainian military.
The Secretary General of NATO, Mr Jens Stoltenbergyesterday called on the member states of the Atlantic alliance to draw on their reserves to supply Ukraine, even if this puts them temporarily below the bar recommended by the Pact.
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