The raids continue Fly on theUkraine against civilians. During the night between Thursday and Friday, Russian missiles hit the region Dnipro. At least three children have died, the government said.Unicef, recalling that “more than 1,957 children have been killed or injured since the escalation of the conflict two years ago”. A situation destined to get worse.
Zelensky and the pressure for air defense systems
President Zelensky he never tires of asking his allies air defense systems. He did so at the European Council when he dialed in during the EU leaders’ dinner on Wednesday evening. He reiterated this in a video link yesterday with the NATO-EU Council attended by the defense ministers of the 32 allied states. The Ukrainian president said that theAtlantic Alliance he must decide “if we are truly allies”. “Our sky must become safe again,” she added, and “it depends entirely on your choice. Choose whether life really has the same value everywhere. Choose if you have the same attitude towards everyone partner. Choose whether we are truly allies.” The reference is to the help provided last Sunday by United States, Great Britain, France and Jordan to Israel to deal with the drone and missile attack launched by Iran.
NATO’s plans for military aid
There Born mapped existing capabilities across thealliance and there are systems that can be made available to theUkraineexplained the general secretary at the end of the meeting Jens Stoltenberg, who did not want to go into details. However, you specified that «in addition to the Patriot, there are other weapons that allies can provide, including SAM-T», of Franco-Italian production. He then said to expect “new announcements soon”, after those of recent days. There Germany decided to deliver another system Patriot in addition to the two already provided. There Denmark has made a new commitment toUkraine hey Netherlands announced an additional 4 billion euros in military support.
The wait for the United States’ decision
The real signal that could represent a turning point for Kiev, if confirmed, however, comes from the United States, where from October the Congress does not approve a new package of military support for Ukraine. Yesterday the first green light arrived for the American room — controlled by Republicans — to the package from 95 billion dollars, which includes aid toUkraine (60 billion), Israel and Taiwan. The Democrats sided with the Republican speaker Mike Johnson so as to overcome the Trumpian-led opposition Marjorie Taylor Greene. The final vote has been set for today. Johnson split the package into a series of bills in an attempt to circumvent members of his own party who are adamantly opposed to helping theUkraine. If US aid is approved today, part of the military supplies they could be handed over to Ukraine shortly. According to an American source the Pentagon is preparing to quickly approve a new package of military aid which includes artillery and air defenses.
The importance of Patriot missile batteries
L’Ukraine is trying to get at least seven batteries of Patriot missiles. Stoltenberg underlined that «support forUkraine it’s not charity. It’s an investment in our safety». He also made it clear to the allies that, «if the only way to give aid to Ukraine is to go below the minimum capacity targets established by NATO, they can do it. But it is a national choice and the capabilities must then be replaced.” The production of missile batteries Patriot can take two years and this is one of the reasons why countries that own them are wary of giving them up, they are not quickly replaceable. There Germany had 12, but is providing three to Kiev (according to Bloomberg it is evaluating the purchase of another four in addition to the four ordered in March). There Poland, which borders theUkraine, it only has two and needs them for its defenses. Also Greece, Holland, Romania and Spain they own Patriot. Ukraine is also interested in the SAM-T systems of France and Italy. Our country has five of them, one has already been delivered to Ukraine (Russia claims to have struck in January), three are engaged in missions abroad and the fifth will be used in Bari to protect the airspace during the G7 of heads of state to be held in June. Military aid to Ukraine will also be on the table of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Council, in jargon “jumbo”, on Monday in Luxembourg. Yesterday a European diplomatic source explained that, in the absence of Patriot, we should look at “the entire range of available air defense systems”.
