Zelensky at NATO Ankara summit: Ukraine desperately needs more Patriot missiles

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ANKARA — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged allies Tuesday to make helping with air defense one of the key outcomes of NATO’s Ankara summit, warning that Ukraine still lacks the means to stop Russian ballistic missiles.

The appeal comes as Ukraine faces a growing shortage of Patriot interceptors, the U.S.-made missiles Kyiv relies on to shoot down Russian ballistic missiles.

“Please help us get more air defense missiles. This is our top priority right now,” Zelenskyy told the NATO Defense Industry Forum. “We are capable of doing everything else ourselves. But when it comes to air defense, we need our partners’ determination.”

Recent Russian barrages have underscored the vulnerability: Ukraine has maintained high interception rates against drones and cruise missiles, but ballistic missiles remain far harder to stop without sufficient Patriot stocks.

Zelenskyy told defense executives and NATO leaders that Ukraine had built the world’s most advanced drone warfare capability, and said its forces now eliminate tens of thousands of Russian troops each month, overwhelmingly through drones.

He also pointed to Ukraine’s naval drones in the Black Sea and long-range strikes deep inside Russia as proof that Kyiv’s defense industry had transformed under wartime pressure.

But Ukraine still needs its allies to move faster on ballistic missile defense.

“The one thing we still need to do here in Europe is build a strong defense against Russian ballistic missiles,” Zelenskyy said. “This is Russia’s last major advantage.”

He praised the Patriot system as “excellent,” but said current production is nowhere near enough to meet demand. Zelenskyy said Ukraine had discussed Patriot production licenses with Washington and urged European governments and industry to back the effort.

“Europe needs its own effective anti-ballistic systems and missiles,” he said. “This cannot wait until 2030 or beyond. Europe needs affordable, mass-produced, anti-ballistic systems as soon as possible. In fact, today.”