Ukraine has received NASAMS air defence systems from the United States, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said in an interview with CBS.
He thanked the USA for providing HIMARS, other multiple launch rocket systems and artillery that enable the Ukrainian army to continue the counteroffensive. He also emphasised the need for air defence systems.
"We absolutely need the United States to show leadership and give Ukraine, the air defence systems. I want to thank President Biden for a positive decision that has been already made. And to the US Congress, we received NASAMS," he said.
According to him, unfortunately, the received weapons are not enough to protect civilian infrastructure, schools, hospitals, universities and homes of Ukrainians.
"Believe me, it's not even nearly enough to cover the civilian infrastructure, schools, hospitals, universities, homes of Ukrainians. Why do we need this? We need the security in order to attract our Ukrainians to come back home. If it's safe, they will come, settle, work here and will pay taxes and then we won't have a deficit of $5 billion in our budget. So it will be a positive for everybody. Because as of today the United States gives us $1.5 billion every month to support our budget to fight- fight this war. However, if our people will come back- and they do want to come back very much, they have a lot of motivation- they will work here. And then the United States will not have to continue, give us this support. I'm sorry, I'm using this language about the war, but it will be a win-win for everybody. For the United States, it will be significant savings, but for us, it will be an opportunity to secure our territory and make it safe for our population," he explained.
The US Department of Defence has recently contracted Switchblade 600 attack drones for Ukraine. And in August, the agreements on Norwegian medium-range anti-aircraft missile systems NASAMS and 155-mm ammunition were signed.
The Ukrainian Air Force said that NASAMS air defence systems would strengthen Ukraine's air defence but they would not be able to "close the sky".