Ukraine is seeking to double its air defense capacity this summer, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday, as the country received a third Patriot system from Germany to bolster its defense efforts against Russia.
"I thank Germany for the Patriot, which is already in Ukraine. This is great news," he said in a video message on Telegram.
He said he had set a goal for the country to double its “defense capabilities this summer, primarily Patriot and others” and said, “now we are starting to see results.”
"The third Patriot air defense system from Germany has already arrived in Ukraine," Martin Jaeger, German Ambassador to Kyiv, wrote Friday on the social media platform X.
Zelenskyy has said that Ukraine needs at least seven Patriot systems to defend the country. He said Friday that Ukraine received “additional support” from the United States but did not provide details. The White House announced a $2.3 billion military aid package for Ukraine on Wednesday, which included missiles for Patriot and other air defense systems the U.S. has previously given Kyiv.
Speaking Friday, ahead of the NATO summit in Washington next week, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the $43 billion that its 32 member countries spend each year for Ukraine should be “a minimum baseline” going forward.
Stoltenberg said the total amount spent will be shared by nations based on their economic growth. Despite these commitments, NATO has held firm on two key points: no Ukraine membership to NATO until the war is over, and no NATO boots on the ground.
NATO will soon manage military equipment deliveries to Ukraine, ensuring that they arrive in a streamlined way and preventing hostile governments from interfering with joint deliveries. Its officials say this effort would complement the Ramstein group, a U.S.-led bloc helping to equip Kyiv.
As the war started, equipment deliveries were hard to track and consisted of an abundance of vehicles and defense systems with unique maintenance plans and supply chains to support their operations.
Meanwhile, Germany said Friday that Hungary canceled a Monday meeting between their foreign ministers just hours after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The German foreign ministry said it was “astonished” and that a “serious and honest" discussion was needed in the wake of Orban’s trip to Moscow, according to Reuters. German officials say the meeting will be rescheduled for a later date.
Orban also met with Zelenskyy on Tuesday and caused concerns among some NATO allies after proposing that Ukraine consider an immediate cease-fire with Russia. Orban has stalled European Union efforts to provide more aid to Ukraine, which has frustrated its EU and NATO allies.
Russian attacks in Ukraine continued Friday, killing eight people and injuring at least 28 in the Donetsk region, according to Vadym Filashkin, the regional governor. In the town of Selydove, five people were killed and eight more were injured when two Russian guided bombs struck, according to the governor.
Russian troops also dropped three guided bombs on the village of Komar, which killed a woman and injured 20 others, the governor said.
"Every town and village in the Donetsk region is always under the threat of enemy attacks," Filashkin said.
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
