The US and its allies are delaying deliveries of weapons to Kiev and aren’t yet willing to act as Ukraine’s air defense, Vladimir Zelensky has said.
On Thursday, Zelensky met with the new NATO secretary-general, Mark Rutte, who hastened to Kiev just two days after taking over the job from the bloc’s decade-long head Jens Stoltenberg.
“We will continue to convince our partners of the need to shoot down Russian missiles and drones,” Zelensky told reporters, noting that “they are not ready yet.”
Kiev has been trying to get NATO countries to extend their air defense envelopes into Ukrainian territory for months, arguing that the missile systems donated by the West can’t cope with the incoming Russian fire.
Ukraine even signed a security pact with Poland with that provision in July, only for Warsaw to backtrack, citing the need for consultations with NATO.
At a press conference with Rutte, Zelensky also argued that Ukraine needs “a sufficient quantity and quality of…