Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on partners to form a winter package of 300 missiles for Patriot systems. He made the statement during a meeting of the Coalition of the Willing in France.
According to the president, Ukraine needs 100 Patriot missiles per month throughout the winter.
“We have calculated that this package should include 100 Patriot missiles per month — 300 missiles for the winter. I ask you to consider this,” Zelenskyy said.
He stressed that Ukraine must begin preparing for the coming winter now. The president described a winter package of air-defence missiles as one of the main ways to strengthen the partners’ common position.
“If we have sufficient protection for the winter, Russia will have far fewer reasons to drag the war into the winter,” the head of state said.
Zelenskyy also said that the inaugural meeting of the Anti-Ballistic Coalition had taken place in France. He expressed hope that the FREJYA project would succeed and strengthen anti-ballistic defence.
The president invited all interested countries capable of contributing to the joint effort to join the project. According to him, FREJYA is designed for the next 12 months.
At the same time, Zelenskyy stressed that Ukraine needs protection immediately. He named SAMP/T, IRIS-T and NASAMS among reliable European systems, while describing Patriot as the most important system currently available for protecting lives from Russian ballistic missiles.
“We need air-defence missiles — this is a daily requirement, and I ask you to focus on this support,” the president said.
Zelenskyy also said Ukraine would continue and intensify its long-range operations and medium-range strikes.
According to him, he reached an agreement with US President Donald Trump on licences for the production of Patriot systems. The teams of both countries are now working to implement the agreement.
The president stressed that a more diverse defence architecture makes it harder for adversaries to undermine European security. For this reason, he said, progress must be accelerated on Patriot, SAMP/T, IRIS-T, NASAMS and the FREJYA project.
