The Office of the Head of State said that regarding the part of Patriot batteries for Ukraine from the most urgent 7, which President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently announced, the partners' decisions regarding the transfer have already been made, and negotiations are still ongoing for the rest.
Points of attention
- Ukraine will receive part of seven emergency Patriot batteries to improve the air defence system.
- Ukraine's partners have already decided to transfer some batteries, but negotiations are still underway regarding the rest.
- Security agreements provide significant military support for the current year and the next 10 years.
- Positive precedents exist for Ukraine's cooperation with the G7+ countries and major partners, who promise to support it in times of peace and war.
- The decision to supply Patriot systems shows the importance of support from the world community and other European countries.
Ukraine will soon receive part of seven emergency Patriot batteries
Deputy Chairman of the Office of the President of Ukraine Ihor Zhovkva said this on the national newscast. He recalled, in particular, the relevant decision of Romania last week.
Last week was a very good, timely decision by Romania to supply another Patriot battery. This decision was not simply given to Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held repeated negotiations with the President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, and work was carried out by the team of the Office of the President. That's why we have a very good result, noted the Presidential office representative.
At the same time, Zhovkva said he would not comment on "statements in the press about another country" that give Patriot to Ukraine.
I have no right to comment on what has not yet happened, he explained.
At the same time, reminding that Ukraine urgently needs seven Patriot batteries, he emphasized that "part of these complexes have already, let's say, been allocated to Ukraine, appropriate decisions have been made, and we are still working on a part."
Sorry, there will be no announcements here, let's not make it easier for the aggressor, Zhovkva noted.
As for security agreements, this is also a relevant component of ensuring Ukraine's security, he emphasized.
According to his information, 17 such agreements have been concluded to date.
And I can announce that new countries with which we will sign security agreements may also appear this week. With some countries, we have already completed the final rounds of negotiations, with some we are still conducting relevant work. This is part of our security. After all, each agreement allocates a specific amount of military support to Ukraine for the current year. We have counted and already today in the 17 agreements that have been concluded, more than 32 billion dollars have been recorded for this year alone. Let me remind you that in each agreement it is said that these countries will support Ukraine at the same pace and with the same dynamics in the next 10 years of validity of these agreements, emphasised Zhovkva.
The Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine noted that the agreement with the United States of America states that the United States will support Ukraine "until victory" and will help it both in times of war and in times of peace.
This work will continue [regarding the signing of security agreements]. We want all those countries that have joined the declaration of security guarantees, and there are more than 30 of them, to conclude such bilateral or collective agreements with Ukraine. And we will try to extend the validity of the G7+ declaration on security guarantees to other regions, not only to the North Atlantic region. There is a positive precedent in Japan, which concluded security guarantees with Ukraine, he said.
Patriot for Ukraine
In May, in an interview with the AFP agency, Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, stated that the country is critically lacking in air defence systems. According to him, only a quarter of the needs have been covered.
Later, at the Conference on the Reconstruction of Ukraine held in Berlin, Zelenskyy said that Ukraine needs seven Patriot systems to close major urban agglomerations from Russian strikes.
Responding to this call, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius announced that his country would help and hand over another air defense system to Ukraine. At the same time, he noted that this is already a quarter of Patriot stocks in the country and in the future they will not be able to help with these complexes.
The Netherlands advocated the joint supply of Patriot air defence systems to Ukraine and called on other European countries to contribute.
On June 13, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that discussions are underway between Ukraine and its partners regarding providing 5 of the 7 Patriot air defence systems our country urgently needs.
The other day, foreign media reported that the US will suspend all Patriot deliveries to Europe until Ukraine closes its skies.
