Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that the deficit of Patriot missile systems in Ukraine arose even before the escalation of the situation in the Middle East, but the new war only exacerbated this problem. He said this in an interview with Politico, as reported by UNN.
Details
According to the head of state, Ukraine has not received the full amount of aid from partners that some Middle Eastern countries have.
The problem existed. Our partners, with all due respect to them, did not give us the entire package that, for example, Middle Eastern countries have. We are very grateful to our partners for what they gave us, but it is not enough. And all these large volumes of Patriot missiles in the Middle East, to be honest, they have them. So this missile deficit did not arise because of this war in the Middle East. It's not because of it. But you are right that now we will have this problem: we do not have a large number of missiles.
The President also emphasized that Ukraine is already seeing a decrease in opportunities to receive missiles for air defense systems.
In addition, according to Zelenskyy, the war involving Iran is shifting the international focus from Ukraine to the Middle East. This, in his estimation, also affects security support for Kyiv.
Recall
Earlier, the Ukrainian leader reported that Ukraine had received PAC-3 missiles for Patriot systems. Their supply was agreed upon by several countries at the last Ramstein meeting.