Ukrainian Defense Minister Reznikov announced increased supply of air defense systems, missiles from partners

Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov reported the information in an interview with the Babel media outlet.

The Defense Minister explained the recent statement about being able to better repel enemies in the air.

"Our partners have committed to increasing the number of air defense systems provision- those that are already being supplied, but there will be more of them along with missiles. Out of respect for the partners, I am not naming which ones, because they want to tell us themselves. I can say that this will significantly increase the level of protection of our skies. We have discussed some systems that do not work for us, but we are learning from them, and we are now finalizing technical solutions. Perhaps by February 24, the partners will make some announcements," Reznikov emphasized.

It is currently unknown when the air defense systems will arrive in Ukraine, besides, they require special training, so it will take at least a month to fulfill the obligations.

Reznikov said that it is now known that Patriot air defense systems have been delivered - one from the US, another from Germany, and launchers and missiles from the Netherlands. 

"But we know countries that still have Patriot, and we are negotiating with them. The president at his level, the head of the Defense Ministry and the prime minister at theirs, and I at the level of defense ministers. I am optimistic that we will have more Patriots," the Defense Minister added.

• Earlier, during his visit to the Munich conference, Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk said that Ukraine expects to be invited to join NATO in July 2023, during the NATO summit in Vilnius. In particular, the main topic of the meeting, he said, is the supply of weapons to Ukraine in the shortest terms possible.