Stoltenberg anticipates additional pledges for Ukraine's air defense.
NATO's boss, Jens Stoltenberg, anticipates greater pledges from allies to reinforce Ukraine's sky protection against Russia. Possible declarations might materialize "within a few days or weeks," as per Stoltenberg, while chatting on the fringes of a defense ministers' meet. The allies are throwing their weight behind Ukraine, asserts Stoltenberg.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy insists upon at least seven Patriot-types air defense systems to fight off Russian aerial assaults. Stoltenberg notes Germany's pledge to deliver another Patriot system, beyond the two it has already submitted. Furthermore, a media report suggests that the US is pondering to provide one more.
At first, US Defense Mister Lloyd Austin aspired to discourse more Ukrainian military assistance in Brussels under the Ukraine Contact Group alongside the allies. Diplomats presume it challenging to compile seven Patriots or parallel systems before NATO’s summit in Washington in about four weeks.
The two-day defense ministers' gathering is the finale before the NATO summit. Considering a potential triumph of former President Donald Trump in the November elections, Stoltenberg has recommended transferring Ukraine's aid oversight to NATO and chiefly to European partners. This strategy would "Trump-proof," the aid, as stated by diplomats.
Thus far, Hungary had been against the blueprint. Notwithstanding, Stoltenberg, after a confab with Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Budapest, revealed that Hungary would no longer impede this, in turn, securing a binding agreement that did not necessitate Hungary to donate to Ukraine militarily or financially. Orban is observed as Putin's most ardent ally in the EU and NATO.
