Berlin has called on EU and NATO member states to strengthen Ukraine's air defense as quickly as possible, reported Reuters, quoted by BTA.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and Foreign Minister Analena Berbock addressed the EU, NATO and other countries regarding a new initiative that will also be discussed at the G7 summit later this week.
Ukraine faces a shortage of military equipment, and vital support from Washington has been blocked by Republicans in the US Congress for months. In addition, the EU fails to deliver its military supplies on time, notes Reuters.
At least 13 people were killed in another Russian airstrike this morning in the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv. This prompted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to again call on Western allies to send weapons to Kiev.
German additional aid initiative "aims to activate and motivate a large number of countries” to make deliveries as soon as possible, said a spokesman for the German Ministry of Defense. "We are really observing a change in the situation in Ukraine, our Ukrainian partners are reporting this to us. Russia is increasingly using industrially produced planning bombs that can be launched from a long distance from the Ukrainian border,” added the spokesman of the defense department. He pointed out that many partners and countries have already expressed interest in participating in the initiative.
Germany is the second largest major supplier of military aid to Ukraine after the US and last week promised to send another Patriot air defense system to Kiev.
In recent weeks, Russia has carried out massive missile strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, prompting Kiev to make a desperate appeal for the supply of high-tech air defense systems, Reuters notes.
This would not have happened if Ukraine had received sufficient air defense equipment and if the world's determination to oppose Russian terror was sufficient, Zelensky said in Telegram. after today's attack on Chernigov.
"We need air defense systems and we need them now. "Ukraine needs it now," a spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry said today. Currently, NATO countries and other partners are checking their stocks, he added.
Later in the day, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said after a meeting with his colleagues from Denmark and the Czech Republic, in which NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also participated, that the three countries would consider how they could support the German initiative, adds Reuters.