Ukraine announces additional air defense support from Germany

Ukraine is looking to double its air defense capability this summer, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday, as the country received a third Patriot system from Germany to bolster its defense efforts against Russia.

“I thank Germany for the Patriot, which is already in Ukraine. This is great news,” he said in a video message on Telegram.

He said he had set a goal for the country to double its “defense capabilities this summer, primarily the Patriot and others” and said, “Now we’re starting to see results.”

“Germany’s third Patriot air defense system has already arrived in Ukraine,” Martin Jaeger, Germany’s ambassador to kyiv, wrote on the X social media platform on Friday.

Zelensky has said Ukraine needs at least seven Patriot systems to defend the country. He said Friday that Ukraine has received “additional support” from the United States, but did not provide details. The White House announced a $2.3 billion military aid package for Ukraine on Wednesday, which includes Patriot missiles and other air defense systems that the United States has already given to kyiv.

Speaking Friday ahead of next week’s NATO summit in Washington, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the $43 billion its 32 member countries spend each year on Ukraine should be “a minimum base” for the future.

Stoltenberg said the total amount spent would be divided among the countries according to their economic growth. Despite these commitments, NATO held firm on two key points: no Ukrainian membership in NATO until after the war, and no NATO military presence on the ground.

NATO will soon manage deliveries of military equipment to Ukraine, ensuring that they arrive smoothly and preventing hostile governments from interfering with joint shipments. Officials say the effort would complement the Ramstein Group, a U.S.-led bloc that helps equip kyiv.

Early in the war, equipment deliveries were difficult to track and consisted of an abundance of vehicles and defense systems with unique maintenance plans and supply chains to support their operations.

Germany announced on Friday that Hungary had canceled a meeting between their foreign ministers, just hours after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The German Foreign Ministry expressed “surprise” and said a “serious and honest” discussion was needed following Orban’s trip to Moscow, according to Reuters. German officials said the meeting would be rescheduled for a later date.

Orban also met with Zelensky on Tuesday and raised concerns among some NATO allies after he suggested Ukraine consider an immediate ceasefire with Russia. Orban has delayed European Union efforts to provide more aid to Ukraine, frustrating his EU and NATO allies.

Russian attacks in Ukraine continued Friday, killing eight people and wounding at least 28 in the Donetsk region, according to regional governor Vadym Filashkin. In the town of Selydove, five people were killed and eight others wounded by two Russian guided bombs, the governor said.

Russian troops also dropped three guided bombs on the village of Komar, killing one woman and wounding 20 others, the governor said.

“Every city and village in the Donetsk region is under constant threat of enemy attacks,” Filashkin said.

Some information in this report comes from The Associated Press and Reuters.