Ukraine pushes for European missile defence system

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that Europe should have its own defense system against ballistic weapons and that Ukraine is already in talks with many countries about the creation of this weapon.

Defense against ballistic missiles is one of Ukraine’s biggest challenges in its war with Russia, as only certain types of missiles used by the American Patriot system are capable of intercepting Russian ballistic missiles.

Russia uses ballistic missiles to attack Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, destroying thermal energy production and electricity transmission systems.

Speaking to Marathon TV channel, Zelenskiy said, “I believe and my opinion is that we should have an anti-ballistic missile defense system in Europe. We are in talks with many countries and working in this direction.” he said.

“We need to build our own anti-ballistic missile defense system within a year,” he added.

Zelenskiy said the task was extremely difficult but realistic and added that he had already discussed it with important European countries, although he did not name them.

He did not give further details.

But Fire Point, the maker of Ukraine’s Flamingo cruise missile, told Reuters this month that it was in talks with European companies to launch a new air defense system by next year, which would create a low-cost alternative to the Patriot system that has become increasingly difficult to obtain.

The supply of Patriot missiles, which are widely deployed in the Gulf against Iranian attacks, is gradually decreasing.

The Italian-French SAMP/T, Europe’s only anti-ballistic system, is produced in relatively small numbers.