NATO, EU urge allies to boost air defence systems for Kyiv
Top NATO and European Union officials urged foreign ministers from leading industrialized nations on Thursday to take quick, concrete steps to provide more air defence systems and artillery to Ukraine, warning that continued delays could tilt the war in Moscow’s favour.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell addressed a meeting of foreign ministers of G7 nations meeting on the Italian resort island of Capri. Russia’s war on Ukraine and surging tensions in the Middle East over Iran’s unprecedented attack on Israel over the weekend have topped the agenda of the gathering.
Without more Patriot air defence missile systems to protect against Russian strikes, “the electricity system of Ukraine will be destroyed. And no country can fight without having electricity at home, in the factories, in the front line,” Borrell told reporters on the sidelines of the event.
Stoltenberg welcomed signs that the U.S. Congress might soon vote on a $61-billion (U.S.) aid package for Ukraine, the bulk of which would go to purchasing weapons and ammunitions from U.S. defence manufacturers. And he welcomed other recent financial pledges from the Netherlands and Denmark as well as Germany’s recent announced delivery of a new Patriot missile battery.
But he said more long-term and sustainable aid was necessary to better co-ordinate Ukraine’s response over the long term.
“There is an urgent, critical need for more air defence,” Stoltenberg said, adding that artillery rounds were also needed. “We cannot continue to be in a situation where Russia is outgunning Ukraine, in the way they do now. The Russians are shooting and shooting, and the Ukrainians have limited resources to shoot back. So the Ukrainians need more, and that’s the urgent and important message from me to all allies.”
The Capri meeting of the top diplomats from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the U.S. dovetailed with other regional diplomatic efforts sending the same messages. On Wednesday, EU leaders meeting in Brussels vowed to ramp up sanctions on Iran to target its drone and missile deliveries to proxies in Gaza, Yemen and Lebanon.
The U.S. and Britain, meanwhile, said Thursday they were imposing a new round of sanctions on Iran, with the U.S. targeting individuals and entities that produce engines that power drones and are involved in steel production. The latest British measures target several Iranian military groups, individuals and entities involved in Iran’s drone and ballistic missile industries.
Borrell said the existing EU sanctions regime would be strengthened and expanded to punish Tehran and help prevent future attacks on Israel. At the same time, he said, Israel needed to exercise restraint. “I don’t want to exaggerate but we are on the edge of a war, a regional war in the Middle East, which will be sending shock waves to the rest of the world, and in particular to Europe,” he warned. “So stop it.”