US ambassador to NATO hints at new Patriot systems for Ukraine
Ukrainians asked for seven systems and "we have a very positive response," she said
At the NATO summit in Washington, DC, which opens on Tuesday, 9 July, it is likely that the US will announce the provision of additional air defence systems to Kyiv, including Patriot systems.
This follows from the speech of US Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith during the Foreign Policy online discussion "NATO in a New Era", which took place on 8 July.
Source. This was reported by the Voice of America.
"There will be fresh news on air defence. In April, Ukrainians asked NATO for seven Patriot systems. And we have a very positive response to that, which will come in the coming days," Smith said.
She urged to keep an eye out for "specific announcements that will come for Ukraine, for NATO allies, news about defence production, about resilience, about cyber security".
"We will have a financial commitment, according to which both Ukraine and Moscow will understand very clearly that we, the transatlantic partners, will not retreat. As you know, Putin anticipated that we would all turn away. We are not distracted. We're focused on Ukraine and we're going to stay the course, so stay tuned for more pledges," Smith said.
She also noted that a "bridge to membership" would be prepared for Ukraine during the summit.
"What does this mean? It means that the alliance will announce that it will take on the role of coordinator of the aid coming to Ukraine, as well as the training of Ukrainian forces that we are all doing now," the envoy said.
As reported, amid the Russian attack, the NATO summit communiqué will be amended to call Ukraine's accession "irreversible". Earlier, the United States and Germany had been promoting the word "bridge" to Ukraine's NATO membership.
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