Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky emphasized that strengthening air defense with the support of European partners is the country’s main diplomatic priority. He stated this on April 15, highlighting the need for daily missile supplies for air defense due to ongoing Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities.
This is reported by Kyiv24
Recent Agreements and Assistance from Europe
Zelensky stressed that Russia does not abandon its tactics of combined strikes on Ukraine, so the country must be prepared to repel all types of aerial threats. To this end, the PURL program is being implemented, which allows for the acquisition of anti-ballistic missiles with financial support from European states. According to the president, in recent days Ukraine has received additional contributions from Germany and Norway for the development of this initiative.
“Just yesterday in Dnipro, five people were killed by a Russian strike… A little boy in Cherkasy died – he was eight years old… In Zaporizhzhia, a person also died from a strike on a bus stop.”
Additionally, new agreements have been reached with Germany regarding the transfer of PAC-2 missiles to Ukraine for air defense systems and additional launchers for IRIS-T complexes. Cooperation with Norway in strengthening air defense is also deepening.
Expansion of Air Defense and Drone Production in Europe
The president reported that Ukraine, together with European states, is working on creating joint production facilities for manufacturing modern air defense systems, missiles for them, as well as various types of drones, which are key for effective defense. By the end of this week, the Ukrainian side plans to ensure additional strengthening of defense capabilities through joint work with European partners in the field of drone technology and air defense production.
Volodymyr Zelensky also emphasized that Ukraine will respond to every Russian attack with its own long-range strikes. It became known the day before that the president of Ukraine and the Prime Minister of Norway, Jonas Gahr Støre, signed a joint declaration on the development of defense cooperation, taking the first step in implementing the Drone Deal initiative.