Ukraine air defense pledges from some NATO countries not being fulfilled, Bloomberg reports
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Several NATO countries are failing to fulfill pledges to provide Ukraine with air defense systems, Bloomberg reported on Aug. 20, citing undisclosed sources.
At least five systems pledged at last month's NATO Summit in Washington D.C. have failed to materialize so far, the outlet said.
Though it does not mention the specific countries behind the air defense pledges, President Volodymyr Zelensky on Aug. 18 singled out the U.S., U.K., and France during his evening address in which he called on allies to speed up deliveries of promised weapons systems.
"There are no vacations in war," he said, adding: "Decisions are needed, as is timely logistics for the announced aid packages."
Ukraine has been increasingly calling on its allies to bolster its sky shield amid unceasing Russian aerial strikes against population centers and infrastructure sites that are expected to increase as winter approaches.
At last month's NATO Summit, it was announced that the U.S., Germany, and Romania would "rapidly" provide Ukraine with additional Patriot batteries, while the Netherlands would provide components to operate one other Patriot battery.
None have yet been delivered, with the last Patriot system to arrive in Ukraine coming from Germany a few days before the summit began.
Berlin also said this week that it had provided Ukraine with a new short-range IRIS-T system and would provide four additional systems of different ranges by the end of the year.
Spain said it will provide Ukraine with another Hawk air defense battery in September.
