MOSCOW, September 22. /TASS/. Vladimir Zelensky said he had not received a clear answer from US President Donald Trump to the request to help Ukraine with missiles for Patriot air defense systems.
"I did not receive a concrete response to the request to help with missiles for Patriots. We have a [shortage] of them," Zelensky said at a press conference.
According to Zelensky, he is ready to use various schemes to obtain missiles for air defense.
On September 8, EU countries approved an exception that allows Ukraine to purchase missiles for Patriot systems using funds from the EU’s 90 billion euro funding program. Kiev previously officially requested permission from the European Commission to purchase the US missiles, as the program operates under a rule that gives priority to the weapons purchases from European military companies.
The United Kingdom’s Defense Ministry said that the country will allocate 100 million pounds ($135 million) to purchase missiles for Patriot systems from the United States for Ukraine’s needs.
Moscow has repeatedly emphasized that the West’s supply of weapons to Kiev and assistance in training Ukrainian military personnel only prolong the conflict and do not change the situation on the battlefield.