Obtaining air and missile defence systems is a priority for Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said after a meeting with President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen in Kyiv, according to the website of the head of state.
Zelenskyy noted the availability of modern air defence systems will, among other things, facilitate the return of Ukrainians home from abroad.
"The question is to ensure their security. This is a complicated issue. Security is air defence. I don't know how to solve it very quickly, but air defence and missile defence are a priority for us today," he said.
He added that there are certain positive decisions on supplying Ukraine with anti-aircraft missile systems NASAMS and IRIS-T. Our state is set to actively cooperate with France, Italy and Germany, but has not yet received an answer from Israel.
"We are expecting several IRIS-T systems. So far, we have not received any. Just as we are expecting NASAMS from the USA and are grateful for the support of this process," said the head of state.
He noted that "there are not many states that are able to guarantee us the closure of the sky, at least in terms of air defence".
He stressed that the latest success of Ukrainian troops at the front (first of all, in Kharkiv Region) was due to the fact that Ukraine received the assistance it had asked for.
"Not all of it yet, but we have received it. It is very important that partners support us with what we need. All actions on the battlefield are concrete operations which must be backed by concrete weapons. Then there will be a concrete result. And there is no need to even talk about the courage and skill of our Armed Forces, everything can be seen from the results," Zelenskyy added.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock earlier said that Ukraine would receive the IRIS-T air-defence missile system from Germany in August-September.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, Andriy Melnyk, said that the newest German air defence system, which is capable of protecting an area the size of Kyiv, would arrive in Ukraine in October.