Original Coverage & Source Attribution: www.yahoo.com
The five strongest European NATO members want to bolster Ukraine with air-defence systems and other equipment before the coming winter, the defence ministers said on Monday after a meeting in Paris.
“We have put together winter packages as part of our Ukraine support,” German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said after the meeting with his counterparts from France, Poland, Britain and Italy. “We will also do everything to ensure that the US supports Ukraine with its deliveries, or rather, above all, with intelligence and satellite data.”
The E5 countries are also working with Ukraine to develop an air-defence system.
“This is to protect Ukrainians from air attacks in addition to the Patriots and other systems,” Pistorius said. He accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of terror against the civilian population. “He will bank on a cold winter and will further worsen conditions for the people in Ukraine by having Ukraine’s energy and water supplies systematically destroyed.”
Ukraine urgently needs more air and missile defence
Radmila Šekerinska, deputy NATO secretary general, who took part in the E5 ministerial meeting, said the group had discussed Europe providing increased help on various fronts, with financial resources, equipment and supplies, focusing on ensuring that air-defence systems and other vital equipment continue to reach Ukraine through various channels.
She said the threat to Ukraine was increasing as winter approaches. Allies had therefore been called on to do more, particularly in air and missile defence. She said the allies had to act immediately because every night, the pressure from Russia could be felt in almost every Ukrainian city.
