Ukraine contracting around 1,000 Patriot missiles from allies, defense chief says

Ukraine is contracting a supply of around 1,000 missiles for U.S.-designed Patriot air-defence systems with the help of allies and through a European Union loan, Kyiv’s defense minister said on Tuesday.

Speaking at a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, Yevhenii Khmara also said that the majority of the missiles would only be shipped in the coming years, and called for more urgent aid.

In comments posted later by the Defence Ministry, Khmara said Ukraine was asking its Western partners to provide more air defense missiles from their stocks in exchange for improvements in missile performance under contracts signed with Kyiv.

He said Ukraine was being hindered by a shortfall of $27 billion in financing for drone supplies.

The ministry’s summary of the meeting said Khmara had presented a plan for Ukraine’s conduct of the war that was already being implemented along with a list of what Kyiv considered to be the biggest threats posed by Moscow.

Khmara said Russia was making no strategic gains along the 1,200-km (750-mile) front line, but Moscow was making up for its battlefield failures with “terror against Ukrainians.”

Russia resumed its near-constant drone and missile attacks on Kyiv on Tuesday after a brief halt for the visit of U.S. peace negotiators. Officials said five people were killed in the capital along with others in various regions.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte told the meeting that Ukraine’s allies had no choice but to boost their support to enable Kyiv “to seize the opportunities it is creating now across all fronts and to defend itself in the skies.”

基辅国防部长周二表示，乌克兰正在盟友的帮助下，通过欧盟贷款，采购约1000枚美国设计的“爱国者”防空导弹系统导弹。

叶夫根尼·赫马拉在乌克兰国防联络小组会议上发言时还表示，大部分导弹要到未来几年才能运抵乌克兰，并呼吁提供更紧急的援助。

赫马拉随后在国防部发表的评论中表示，乌克兰正在要求其西方伙伴从其库存中提供更多防空导弹，以换取根据与基辅签署的合同改进导弹性能。

他表示，乌克兰在无人机物资供应方面面临 270 亿美元的资金缺口，这阻碍了乌克兰的发展。

该部会议纪要称，赫马拉提出了乌克兰应对战争的计划，该计划已开始实施，同时还列出了基辅认为莫斯科构成的最大威胁。

赫马拉表示，俄罗斯在长达 1200 公里（750 英里）的前线没有取得任何战略进展，但莫斯科正在用“对乌克兰人的恐怖袭击”来弥补其在战场上的失败。

周二，在短暂停止对基辅的无人机和导弹袭击（此前因美国和平谈判代表访问而暂停）后，俄罗斯恢复了对基辅近乎持续不断的袭击。官员称，首都基辅有五人丧生，其他地区也有多人遇难。

北约秘书长马克·吕特在会上表示，乌克兰的盟友别无选择，只能加大对乌克兰的支持力度，使基辅能够“抓住现在在各个方面创造的机会，并在空中保卫自己”。