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Kiev’s military asks NATO to close skies over western Ukraine

The Ukrainian authorities regularly call on the West to provide air defense systems and missiles, especially Patriot systems

MOSCOW, May 28. /TASS/. Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov has called on neighboring NATO member-states to close the sky over the western part of the country.

"I have asked neighboring NATO member states, which cannot provide us with their air defense systems, to close the sky over our western regions from their territory," he wrote on Facebook (banned in Russia, owned by Meta Corporation, recognized as extremist in Russia) after his statement at the spring session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Sofia.

On May 27, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky admitted that Kiev already had to persuade Western partners to provide weapons, particularly air defense systems. Ukraine, he said, lacked air defense missiles. Zelensky also recalled that he asked for at least seven Patriot air defense missile systems to Kiev, two of which are needed for Kharkov.

The Ukrainian authorities regularly call on the West to provide air defense systems and missiles, especially Patriot systems. At first, Kiev asked for five to seven more units, but in early April Zelensky said that "it is desirable for Ukraine to have 25 Patriot systems."

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said that he was "banging his head against a wall" in hopes of getting Patriot for Kiev.

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