“President Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that he had reason to make critical statements about Europe after the lack of funding led to a shortage of air defense missiles and the Russians managed to damage the energy sector of the capital of Ukraine.”, — write: www.pravda.com.ua
Patriot complex. Air Force photo Source: the head of state at a meeting with journalists in Kyiv, “European Truth” quotes
Details: Zelensky did not deny that from European capitals his speech might have seemed too harsh and explained it by the fact that “we live in different information fields – Ukraine and the rest of Europe.”
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The president also admitted that it is not only about information, but also about “emotional” differences in the perception of events.
The head of state explained that his speech in Davos was preceded by heavy shelling of the energy infrastructure when the Russians hit a significant number of objects in Kyiv, and he also admitted that he knew in advance that the Armed Forces would not be able to repel this attack.
“For example, in Ukraine, we have Russian attacks on TPP-6, TPP-5, TPP-4 in Kyiv, and I know that the divisions against ballistic strikes are empty. Just empty. Imagine: I know that ballistics are flying against our energy industry; I know that Patriot is standing; and I know that there will be no light, because there are no missiles for protection,” he said.
The reason for the shortage of missiles, according to him, was the lack of funding for the purchase of PAC-3 anti-missile missiles in the USA, capable of intercepting ballistics.
However, President Zelensky avoided a direct answer to a request to clarify why his criticism was aimed specifically at Europe and avoided the United States, although it is about American missiles.
“The USA does not give us missiles for free. We can treat it differently. It is paid for by Europe, and the tranche for PURL (for the purchase of weapons in the USA) has not been paid. The missiles have not arrived. I am simply stating what is happening. That is why I say that emotionally and informationally we need to be on the same plane,” he added.
The President also emphasized that after that the deficit was filled, but the anti-missiles arrived two days late,
“PAC-3 came a day after they almost blackout us,” he said.
Prehistory:
- Earlier, the Secretary General of NATO appealed to the countries “sitting on stockpiles of interceptors” to transfer these missiles to Ukraine.
- Also in January, Norway transferred a significant number of missiles to NASAMS air defense systems to Ukraine.
- Zelenskyi has already stated that the state of Ukraine’s air defense depends on the unity of Europe and the United States.