In an interview with Politico, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, mincing no words, urged allies not to delay the delivery of air defence systems that the country urgently needs to repel Russia's growing missile attacks.
"Give us the damn Patriots," he demanded.
"If we had enough air defense systems, namely Patriots, we would be able to protect not only the lives of our people, but also our economy from destruction," he added.
The need for such defences is all too clear for residents of Kyiv. Just an hour before Kuleba sat down with Politico at the foreign ministry on Monday, in broad, mid-morning daylight, the Ukrainian capital came under attack from Russian ballistic missiles.
A couple of loud blasts rang out just moments after air raid sirens blared across the city. Kuleba was in the city's botanical gardens to make a video for an upcoming trip at the time.
The missiles were intercepted by Patriot air defences. But nine people, including a teenage girl, were still injured from falling debris, including in the district near to where Kuleba was filming.
The foreign minister's demand comes at a fraught moment for Ukraine in its attempt to repel Vladimir Putin's invading forces