Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in his speech at the NATO summit in Ankara on July 7, said that Ukrainian air defense intercepts about 90% of Russian Shahed drones. He called on partners to join the Drone Deal and jointly create anti-ballistic systems in Europe.
This was reported by Suspilne.
According to Zelenskyy, Ukrainian air defense intercepts about 90% of Russian Shahed-type drones. Ukraine is offering partners the Drone Deal — a drone initiative that involves not only the purchase of drones, but also joint production.
“Drone Deal is not only the purchase of drones, but also joint production. This is an initiative — quick access to protection. I thank everyone who has already joined the initiative. These are the EU, Turkey, Azerbaijan, the Gulf countries. I hope that we will cooperate to provide other countries with protection from threats,” Zelenskyy said.
The Ukrainian leader called on NATO countries to cooperate with Ukraine to create protection against ballistic threats, especially in Europe. He called Russia’s ability to attack with ballistic missiles its “last advantage.”
“You need your own capacities for producing anti-ballistic capacities. We all value the Patriot system, but in today’s war we have seen that Patriot production is not enough to provide protection against ballistic weapons,” the Ukrainian president said.
Zelenskyy appealed to NATO countries to support efforts to produce Patriot systems in Europe. He called on European countries to establish their own production of a low-cost anti-ballistic system as quickly as possible.
“Patriot systems are no longer enough. And this cannot wait until 2030, it is needed now,” Zelenskyy said.
According to the president, this is not about profits for governments or manufacturers, but about the security of hundreds of millions of Europeans.
“This is not a matter of maximizing earnings for governments and manufacturers, but of protecting hundreds of millions of Europeans. We are working on developing an anti-ballistic coalition,” Zelenskyy said.
He also emphasized that Ukraine needs help in the field of air defense.
“We can do everything else ourselves,” the president said.
Ukraine is also managing to attack Russian enterprises deep in the rear. Zelenskyy emphasized that there is not a single large oil refinery left in Russia that has not been hit by Ukraine.
Speaking about the future of Ukraine-NATO relations, the president said that Ukraine’s alliance in NATO is “an alliance of the future.”
“I want to express my gratitude for the position of the leaders of the countries who noted that Ukraine’s place is in NATO. Now NATO must respond to the risks of the modern world with Ukraine — with the strength of our defense industry, the resilience and experience of our people,” Zelenskyy noted.
