Zelensky Warns Ukraine Needs Just 5% of U.S. Air Defense Missiles to Survive Winter
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says Ukraine could ‘survive the winter and save lives’ if it received just 5% of the United States’ stockpile of air-defense missiles, and could destroy all incoming Russian ballistic missiles with 10%. The appeal, given in a CNN interview, turns Ukraine’s air-defense shortfall into a stark test for Washington and its allies ahead of another season of Russian strikes on energy and cities.
Volodymyr Zelensky has drawn a sharp new line under Ukraine’s air-defense crisis, arguing that a small fraction of U.S. missile stocks could decide how many Ukrainians make it through the coming winter. In an interview with CNN published on 13 August, the Ukrainian president said the country currently has “1%” of what it needs and framed his request to Washington in blunt numerical terms. “Ukraine needs only 5% of the air-defense missiles available in the United States to survive the winter and save lives,” Zelensky said, according to the interview summary. He added that if the U.S. could provide 10% of its surface-to-air missile inventory, Ukraine would be able to…
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