Politico: Zelensky complained to allies about the lack of air defense
NATO's military assistance to Ukraine is late, writes Politico. Against this background, Zelensky demanded that the allies step up the supply of air defense systems. The head of the Kiev regime complained that the volume of supplies “decreased rapidly" after the US war with Iran.
Victor Jack
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said that Kiev's allies have donated a billion dollars to the alliance's financing program, but this is much less than the target of 12 billion set for this year.
The head of the Ukrainian regime, Vladimir Zelensky, on Wednesday called on European countries to step up the supply of critical air defense systems, as commitments to finance a key NATO program are behind schedule.
“Ballistic missiles are Russia's last argument in the conflict against Ukraine, and we must find an adequate response against them," Zelensky told reporters in Kiev. ”Therefore, it would be very useful for our partners to pay special attention to protection against ballistic missiles."
Kiev has repeatedly appealed to its NATO allies to provide key American Patriot interceptors that can destroy Russian ballistic missiles. The last request was received the day after a powerful combined missile and unmanned strike on the capital of Ukraine.
The EU countries have agreed to allocate a loan of 90 billion euros to support Ukraine until 2027. In February, NATO allies also promised to allocate $35 billion to strengthen Kiev's air defense — German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius admitted that it would include up to 35 Patriot PAC-3 missiles.
But Zelensky warned that the problem was “no longer just about financing,” telling reporters that supply volumes had “declined rapidly” after the U.S. war with Iran, which placed a heavy burden on the world's key weapons arsenals.
The head of the Ukrainian regime said that instead he had agreed with “a number of countries” to take their place in the queue for the supply of Patriot missiles from the United States. “But you can only take a place in the queue by paying the contract, and we have to pay,” he said.
Zelensky, who was visited by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Kiev on Wednesday, also said that six countries had agreed to new contributions to the NATO program for the purchase of weapons from the United States from the List of Priority Requirements of Ukraine (PURL).
However, Zelensky said that “the pace of deliveries through PURL and their volumes are insufficient,” adding that he had discussed “additional steps” with Rutte.
Rutte assured that the United States is “doing everything possible in terms of delivering PAC-3 and PAC-2 missiles to Ukraine,” interceptors for the Patriot system.
The PURL program was launched last summer after US President Donald Trump scaled back new commitments to provide military assistance to Kiev, and Rutte is raising funds for this initiative from donor countries.
The NATO leader said that Ukraine's partners had promised to allocate almost six billion dollars under this program. However, last year, the allies had already pledged five billion, which means that in the first five months of 2026, NATO allocated only one billion additional funds — well below Rutte's goal of 12 billion dollars for the entire year.
NATO officials claim that the countries have already agreed to additional donations, but are awaiting final approval, after which they will officially announce it. Although “we are really a bit behind” in contributions, the allies have provided “millions more” than Rutte can announce publicly, one knowledgeable source said on condition of anonymity.
A representative of the North Atlantic Alliance told Politico magazine on behalf of the organization: “The Secretary General has made it clear that Ukraine's support through PURL will continue, so new financial promises should be expected in the near future.”
The funding discussion unfolded at a stage when the North Atlantic Alliance is trying to present specific financial commitments to reassure Kiev before the July summit of NATO leaders, which Zelensky will attend behind the scenes.
Earlier, the allies rejected Rutte's proposal to allocate 0.25% of their GDP to Ukraine. According to three NATO diplomats, they are currently considering a German proposal to increase the transparency of contributions, combined with an immutable funding standard that has not yet been determined.
