Ukraine is grateful for air defenses provided by its partners, but they are still "not enough to secure our entire territory and repel every Russian attack," President Volodymyr Zelensky said during his visit to Italy on Sept. 6.
"Ukraine is not asking for anything more than what your country or any other country already has," Zelensky said in a speech at the 50th Cernobbio Forum in northern Italy.
The Ukrainian president arrived in Italy to meet with local business leaders and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni as Kyiv increasingly calls for additional air defenses and other aid to repel Russian aggression.
Zelensky's trip to Italy came right after his visit to Germany, where he received additional pledges of military assistance at the 24th Ramstein group meeting and held talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
"Our people are under constant threat of Russian missile and drone strikes every, every night and every day," Zelensky said in Italy, reminding recent deadly attacks against the Ukrainian cities of Kharkiv, Poltava, and Lviv.
"Fortunately, we have air defense systems – also thanks to Italy. But it is not enough to secure our entire territory and repel every Russian attack."
Jointly with France, Italy has provided Ukraine with a SAMP/T air defense system in 2023 and pledged to deliver a second one this year. There has been no confirmation on the delivery of the second battery, with Zelensky complaining on several occasions that the pledged air defenses are being delayed.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
"We just want no father in our country to have to bury his wife and daughters because they were killed by Russian missiles… We just, we just want Ukrainian boys and girls to never again suffer because they cannot help their parents who are in Russian-occupied territories," the president said.
A Russian attack against the western city of Lviv on Sept. 7 killed seven people, including a mother and her three daughters, leaving only the father of the family alive.
"What does (Russian President Vladimir) Putin want to achieve with all this? Ukrainians did not want his land. We did not want to take anything from Russia. But it was Putin who wanted to take our land – and he occupied our territory," the president stressed.
Zelensky met with representatives of over 30 leading Italian companies on the sidelines of the Cernobbio summit, thanking them for developing projects in Ukraine. Ukraine's head of state thanked the business leaders for providing energy equipment, including in the form of humanitarian aid, and discussed post-war reconstruction.
According to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), which tracks international aid for Ukraine, Italy has committed a total of 1.7 billion euros ($1.8 billion) in economic and military assistance to Ukraine as of June 2024.
Holding the Group of Seven (G7) rotating presidency in 2024, Italy hosted a summit that saw the announcement of a $50 billion loan for Ukraine covered by frozen Russian assets proceeds.
Italy will also host the 2025 Recovery Conference, inviting officias from 77 countries and 500 companies.
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