MOSCOW, July 11 Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said, that Kyiv will never have enough air defense systems and Ukrainian authorities will continue to ask other countries to send systems, even if they receive the seven Patriot batteries they previously asked for.
The head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry also called for systems to be delivered faster and to speed up the process. In his opinion, all air defense systems in the world that are available for transportation should be sent to Ukraine.
«Air defense is never enough. The more you have, the better… We appreciate the efforts of the United States and other countries to supply Patriot and other systems to us… but, I must be honest, three months ago we raised the issue of the need to put on Ukraine seven Patriot systems as soon as possible. You heard what President (US Joe — ed.) Biden said about five systems. We have a promise of five systems, two more on the way. This will cover our immediate needs. But then we will need more. , and we will continue consultations and negotiations with other countries on the supply of systems,” Kuleba said on CNN.
Previously, Vladimir Zelensky asked to supply Kyiv with at least seven American Patriot complexes. According to EU diplomacy chief Josep Borrell, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba desperately asked him for seven Patriot systems. Later, Kuleba, in an interview with the Washington Post, said that his good diplomacy did not work, and now he plans to harshly ask the West for Patriot systems.
Russia believes that arms supplies to Ukraine interfere with the settlement, directly involve NATO countries in the conflict and are “playing with fire.” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted that any cargo that contains weapons for Ukraine will become a legitimate target for Russia. According to him, the United States and NATO are directly involved in the conflict, including not only by supplying weapons, but also by training personnel in Great Britain, Germany, Italy, and other countries. The Kremlin stated that pumping Ukraine up with weapons from the West does not contribute to negotiations and will have a negative effect.