Ukraine needs just 5% of the Patriot interceptor missiles from the United States to get through the winter, while a tenth would allow it to destroy all Russian ballistic missiles, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with CNN, UNN reports.
Details
"If the United States sells us 5%, we will get through the winter and save people's lives. If they can sell us 10%, we will destroy all Russian ballistic missiles. I have 1%," Zelenskyy said.
There is a global shortage of missiles because of the US war with Iran, in which the United States and Gulf countries used dozens to counter Iranian missile attacks and attacks by low-cost drones. "The shortage is costing Ukraine the most, where cities sometimes seem defenseless against Moscow's missile attacks at night," the publication writes.
Zelenskyy has rarely spoken about his personal daily efforts to secure more interceptors, which involved concluding deals he preferred to keep secret. "This is what I live with every day: from 1% to 5%. I have several months, and a million phone calls… I am trying to exchange something for missiles… I am doing some things that I cannot even share. That does not mean they are outside the law. But I cannot talk about it," he said.
Zelenskyy said there were still doubts about how US President Donald Trump's apparent commitment to allow Ukraine to build its own Patriot interceptor missiles would be implemented.
"I hope I will get it," Zelenskyy said. "I do not have 5% now, and I do not have such approval. And for me, this is a major challenge, one of the biggest I have faced since the very beginning of this war," he said.
Zelenskyy said that directly, through calls and messages, and indirectly through allies, he was urging the White House to increase its assistance with Patriot systems. However, he was reluctant to provide details about his recent interaction with the Trump administration.
On the conversation with Vance
He confirmed that he had recently held a telephone conversation with US Vice President J.D. Vance, but declined to clarify, according to the Financial Times, whether Vance had asked Ukraine to stop strikes on a Russian oil port in the Black Sea that are harming American companies.
FT learned details of the US request to Ukraine regarding strikes on tankers12.08.26, 09:00
On proposals for the peace process
Ukraine has also presented new proposals for the peace process led by Trump, which in recent months has appeared to be stalled, the publication writes. Zelenskyy declined to provide details but said: "We need greater American involvement in the peace plan. I am grateful to President Trump's team for wanting to continue. putin does not want to stop this war now, and there is not enough pressure on him at the moment."
He also rejected the idea that Ukraine would give up the rest of the Donbas territory that putin seeks to conquer, saying that security guarantees remain crucial for Ukraine.
"russia is starting to talk about this war, and they are talking about territory. The key question is why he would not return again with 1 or 2 additional million soldiers after a long pause. Why would he not return to occupy us?" the President said.
Zelenskyy added that he agreed with some Western assessments that putin may be seeking to escalate the war against NATO, possibly by attacking NATO's smaller Baltic countries.
"He does not know how to end this war without a major occupation or a major victory for his society. It is easier to find some smaller country… for him, it will not matter whether that country is in NATO or not. He wants a quick victory, being 100% certain that he will win, occupy or destroy, or control," Zelenskyy said.
U.S. believes Putin may test NATO’s resolve with a limited incursion - WSJ07.08.26, 10:29