At Ukraine's request, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is calling a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council this Friday. It will be about addressing Ukraine's urgent need for more air defense systems and artillery shells, said Stoltenberg in Brussels.
The meeting was scheduled to be attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the defense ministers of the member states. It was initially not known whether it would be organized via video conference or as a physical meeting.
Zelenskyj: Also protect people in Ukraine from terror
Zelensky had previously expressed his desire to convene the NATO-Ukraine Council to better defend his country's airspace based on the Israeli model. Ukraine will apply to supply anti-aircraft systems and missiles, he said in a video message distributed in Kiev on Tuesday evening. The people in Ukraine also have a right to protection from terror, Zelensky argued, referring to the air defense in Israel, which successfully repelled Iranian air strikes at the weekend. Ukraine repeatedly complains about serious damage after heavy shelling by Russia, including from Iranian-made drones.
Ukraine is exposed to the same missile and drone attacks, and human lives must be protected equally everywhere, said Zelensky. Ukraine continues to struggle to get real help from its allies.
Stoltenberg: More support instead of alliance goals
Stoltenberg made it clear that he considers resolute support for Ukraine in the current situation to be more important than meeting alliance goals for the provision of weapons and ammunition. If allies are currently faced with the choice of whether to meet NATO's capability goals or provide more aid to Ukraine, the message is clear, Stoltenberg explained. This loud to send more support to Ukraine.
The NATO-Ukraine Council met for the first time last year at the NATO summit in Lithuania at the level of heads of state and government. The new committee was created for exchange in crisis situations. It should also enable closer cooperation until the conditions for Ukraine to join NATO are met. These include, among other things, an end to the Russian war of aggression and reforms in Ukraine.
Patriots for Ukraine: Berlin can hope for help for a new initiative
The Netherlands, Denmark and the Czech Republic want to support a new German initiative for the rapid delivery of air defense systems to Ukraine. We will examine how we can help, said Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on the sidelines of a meeting with his counterparts Petr Fiala from the Czech Republic and Mette Frederiksen at NATO headquarters in Brussels. It is crystal clear that everything necessary will be done to support Ukraine for as long and as intensively as necessary.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said everyone now had to ask themselves whether it wouldn't be better to send some of their own air defense systems to Ukraine. These systems exist in Europe and some of them now have to be delivered to Ukraine.
Scholz is calling on EU partners to provide more air defense for Ukraine
At the start of the EU summit in Brussels, Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged the allies to deliver more weapons to Ukraine. “The Russian war of aggression is being carried out with great brutality and we know that we have to do more than we have done so far to support Ukraine,” said Scholz in the evening. In addition to ammunition and artillery, the Ukrainian armed forces particularly needed air defense.
Scholz pointed out that the federal government had decided to supply another Patriot air defense system. "This is immediately useful for Ukraine, but we also want to encourage others to do the same." The “terrible” Russian air strikes showed “that it is necessary to do something about this,” said the Chancellor. "For me, what's important at this summit will be to convince many people to go home and see what's going on." Action must now be taken quickly.
Baerbock and Pistorius are calling for more air defense systems for Ukraine
In urgent letters, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) and Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) also call on the allies to provide better and rapid support to Ukraine with air defense systems. Contributions to the defense against Russian aggression “must come quickly,” it says in joint letters to their counterparts, which are available to the German Press Agency. "In view of the situation that Ukraine is facing, they are of great urgency. The "Spiegel" first reported on them.
Both ministers called on allies to take stock of all air defense systems in their arsenals and consider what could be given to Ukraine directly or in swap agreements with partners. Production capacities should also be checked and used. Allies could also contribute to the initiative with financial aid to facilitate the purchase or to compensate partners who donated equipment to Ukraine.
