Ukraine and the United States have agreed on monthly deliveries of interceptor missiles for Patriot air defense systems, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said at a joint press conference with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade.
"Who has anti-missile missiles and systems? First of all, their manufacturer is the United States. Can they help? We are working on this. Will they supply us with missiles monthly? Yes. We have the relevant agreements," Zelensky said, as quoted by Interfax-Ukraine.
Zelensky stressed that the missiles to be supplied would not be enough to protect Ukraine. Washington has not yet commented on the agreements. Earlier, US President Donald Trump, responding to Kyiv's requests, said that the United States itself needed Patriot missiles, as its stockpiles of such munitions had been depleted by the war against Iran.
In recent weeks, Zelensky has repeatedly called on allies to provide Kyiv with additional air defense missiles and reported an acute shortage of such systems. Over ten days, Russian forces carried out at least four massive missile and drone strikes on Kyiv and the surrounding region, killing and wounding dozens of people.
On Saturday, Zelensky also said Kyiv would like to obtain air defense systems from Israel. "We would be ready to buy them. So far we do not have that opportunity, although we are holding negotiations," he said. According to the president, South Korea and Japan could also help Ukraine, but currently they cannot transfer weapons due to their domestic legislation.