The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, has reiterated his demand for his country to join NATO, emphasizing that, unlike the situation at the beginning of the Russian invasion in 2022, Ukraine has become a "source of extraordinary defensive capability" and that the lessons learned in these years of war would make the Atlantic Alliance "stronger."
These statements were made this Tuesday at the Defense Industry Forum of the Ankara Summit, which takes place on July 7 and 8 in the Turkish capital, where he questioned the attendees about whether they consider it "right" to keep Kyiv out of the organization.
"I have a question for you. Do you really think it would be right to keep a country and a people with this level of defensive capability out of NATO? If we already have these capabilities, if Ukrainians already know how to fight like this, then it makes sense for these capabilities to become part of the collective defense of the alliance. That would make us all stronger," the Ukrainian leader stated.
Zelensky has argued that Ukraine's entry into NATO "would be natural," recalling that the organization already supports Kyiv against "the source of the problem, Russia," and that "the idea that Moscow has a strategic rear" has been discarded.
He explained that "Russia believed it had a territorial advantage. No one else possessed a deep zone where it could keep its military production, its military equipment, and everything else safe. Its war depended on believing that no one could reach them. And we have reached them. Just yesterday, Ukrainian drones broke through Russia's defenses and attacked a Russian oil refinery in Donetsk," he celebrated.
Demand for more Patriot systems and European shield
In his speech, the Ukrainian president praised the "excellent" US-made Patriot anti-missile systems, although he warned that "today's wars" have shown that the current production volume "is not enough to meet the growing demand for protection against ballistic missiles."
"That is a fact, and we must respond to that fact," he remarked, insisting that "those who defend life need more Patriots." He explained that Kyiv is holding talks with Washington to obtain production licenses for these systems and urged European countries to erect their own ballistic missile shield "as soon as possible" and in an "affordable and massive" way, warning that the continent's security "cannot wait until 2030 or beyond."
Nine EU ministers demand greater flexibility to arm Kyiv
In parallel, the defense ministers of nine European Union member states have asked the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas, and the Defense Commissioner, Andrius Kubilius, this Tuesday to grant Ukraine more leeway to use the 90 billion euro loan for arms acquisitions from third countries.
The defense ministers of Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia have sent a joint letter to the European Commission in which they call for accelerating the approval of arms supply plans for Ukraine through a "pragmatic" use of exceptions that allow the purchase of military equipment produced outside the EU, without waiting for the completion of mappings and studies of the European defense market.
In the letter, they recall a recent meeting in Brussels with Ukrainian representatives, where Kyiv conveyed that it faces pressing military needs for which there is no European alternative or that the EU industry cannot cover in time. Among them, they cite PAC-3 anti-aircraft defense missiles (compatible with Patriot), AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missiles, ATACMS long-range missiles, ADM-160 MALD aerial decoys, and AGM-88 HARM anti-radiation missiles, all of them manufactured in the United States.
"Fully utilizing available instruments will help maintain momentum and allow Ukraine to access the capabilities it needs without unnecessary delays. This will contribute to Ukraine continuing to resist and to saving human lives," the nine ministers defended in their letter.