Ukraine expects additional decisions on air defence at NATO summit in Ankara – Sybiha
During the NATO summit in Ankara (Türkiye), Ukraine expects additional decisions on strengthening Ukrainian air defence.
This was stated by Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha during a conversation with the media, Censor.NET reports, citing Interfax-Ukraine.
Agreements at the G7 summit
"There is implementation. During the G7 summit in France, President Zelenskyy agreed with partners on further steps, specifically, regarding closing the Ukrainian sky and strengthening the air shield. And there are agreements here on strengthening our capabilities before winter," Sybiha said, commenting on whether the agreements reached by the president at the G7 summit are being implemented.
The foreign minister noted that he would not name figures or countries for security reasons, but assured that "these agreements have been reached."
Strengthening air defence
"We expect additional decisions during the NATO summit in Ankara. In recent days, several countries have already announced additional aid packages. And our partners also understand that another difficult winter lies ahead of us, and one of the elements of getting through this winter, one of the elements of strengthening our negotiating positions, is the reinforcement of our air defence, but not only supplies," Sybiha said.
According to him, Ukraine is now raising the issue of increasing the capacity to manufacture systems on Ukrainian territory.
"And the dialogue on this matter, the discussion, has moved into a more practical plane. I can also tell you this in political and diplomatic terms. This is, undoubtedly, the scaling up of our national capabilities, our national programmes, our system, which President Zelenskyy has repeatedly spoken about, the so-called air defence system of strategic importance with anti-ballistic properties," Sybiha explained.
The minister noted that certain elements held by partners are needed to speed this up. According to Sybiha, these agreements have also been reached.
"And we understand both the time frames, to sum up, and the volumes, and, importantly, we hope that this will be delivered before winter," he added.
NATO summit in Ankara
- The NATO summit in Ankara is scheduled for 7–8 July. The leaders of the Alliance countries will gather at the Bestepe Presidential Complex.
- Trump and Zelenskyy may meet at the Alliance summit.
