NATO must provide 'whatever air defense we can give' to Ukraine, Rutte says
NATO countries will do all they can to provide Ukraine with air defenses necessary to protect its infrastructure but there is no surplus of such systems, Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Dec. 4.
"In the world, we do not have an overflow of supply of air defense systems. So that means that you always have to make sure that you prioritize," Rutte told journalists during the second ministerial meeting in Brussels.
The previous day at the meeting, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said that his country seeks at least 20 systems like NASAMS, HAWK, and IRIS-T to protect its critical infrastructure from Russian aerial strikes and prevent blackouts.
"But there was a clear agreement at the table last night that helping Ukraine, particularly with its infrastructure, has to be a priority," the secretary general continued. He did not provide a concrete number but voiced confidence that allies would provide Kyiv with whatever they could.
"We have to make sure that whatever air defense we can give them is being supplied to Ukraine."
Ukraine has previously complained that the allies are slow in fulfilling their commitments, such as providing air defenses pledged during a July summit in Washington. Kyiv received a Patriot system from Romania in October and was promised two additional IRIS-T systems from Germany by the end of the year.
Air defenses are likely to be crucial for Ukraine as the country braces for fresh Russian missile and drone strikes in what some warned may be the harshest winter of the war yet.
Dominic Culverwell
