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With arsenals drying up, Europe lacks air defense systems for Ukraine, expert says

Austrian Defense Ministry’s Colonel Markus Reisner noted that that the current deliveries weren’t enough to cover the entire country and protect critical infrastructure

VIENNA, November 29. /TASS/. Europe has significantly drained its weapons arsenals since 1989-1991 so now it doesn’t have enough air defense systems to provide to Ukraine, the Austrian Defense Ministry’s Colonel Markus Reisner told the ORF radio station on Tuesday.

According to the expert, Ukraine has almost run out of air defense missiles. "The West is trying to fill the void by providing Western-made systems. The problem definitely is that we have significantly reduced European arsenals since 1989-1991 because we thought that, as [political scientist] Francis Fukuyama said, the end of history had come," Reisner noted.

He added that the current deliveries weren’t enough to cover the entire country and protect critical infrastructure.

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky met with the foreign ministers of Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Finland, Sweden and Estonia on Monday, urging them to provide air defense systems to Ukraine.

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