Air defense should be one of the key outcomes of the NATO summit, which will take place on July 7-8 in Ankara, if the Alliance still means anything to its allies, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
"The NATO summit and other meetings are coming up in the next few days, and this – air defense – must be one of the key outcomes. That is, of course, if NATO still means anything to its allies. Europe must have its own sufficient capacity to defend itself against all types of threats, including this one – Russian ballistic missiles. Discussions with the U.S. administration regarding licenses to manufacture "Patriots" have been ongoing for quite some time," Zelenskyy said in an evening address on Thursday.
He thanked all the countries that are helping through the PURL program to purchase missiles for the Patriot system, but noted that reliable protection of lives requires domestic production.
"European production here, in Ukraine, or in collaboration with partners, would of course also support the United States in operations when needed. We are counting on a positive response from President Trump to protect lives," Zelenskyy said.
