The 32 NATO member countries announced the supply of five new Patriot air defense systems to Kyiv, as well as the first F-16 fighter jets this summer.
ADVERTISEMENTAt the recently concluded summit in Washington, a new round of promises was made in Kyiv, as Russia continues to bomb civilian areas, including targeting a children’s hospital earlier this week.
They announced the supply of five new Patriot air defense systems and the joint announcement by the United States, the Netherlands and Denmark that the first F-16 fighter jets would be in the hands of Ukrainian military pilots before the end of the summer.
Euronews met Edward Arnoldhe is a security researcher at RUSI, a British think tank.
Edward Arnorld:
“I think the Patriot systems are very important because they are capable of intercepting hypersonic missiles, which are the ones that do the most damage to Ukraine’s critical civilian and national infrastructure. But it’s not just about the launchers. It’s about the number of interceptors. It’s also about the ammunition. And this will have to be a permanent requirement for the Ukrainians.
As for the F-16s, they will be very, very valuable to the Ukrainians, but they will not be a game changer. They will not, by themselves, allow Ukraine to retake much territory in the near future.”
Euronews: We have seen horrific images. Attacks on hospitals, where are we on the battlefield in the East? And generally speaking, is the situation as serious as it was a few months ago?
Edward Arnold:
“Let’s start with the attack. I mean the Kremlin deliberately decided to strike on Monday, before the summit, to try to get into the news cycle and show those in Europe who were more timid about Ukraine and Ukraine’s membership and a bigger NATO role in the war, that it is possible to escalate the conflict. It’s to tell them that this is what escalation could look like in their own countries.
I think it probably backfired on them to the extent that the Patriot systems and the other air defense systems were provided and NATO stood up and said, you know, this is absolutely not acceptable if you give them the munitions and the capabilities, they’re more than happy to hold the ground. They’re more than happy to take massive losses.
But the Russians are suffering more. You know, over the last six weeks, it seems that on average 1,200 Russians have been killed, wounded or dead on the battlefield. That’s one combat group per day, but they’re still on the offensive. That shows how difficult the situation on the ground is right now.”
Ensuring sustainable support for Ukraine
One of the ambitions of this summit was to make permanent or institutionalize NATO military support to Ukraine so that in the future the Ukrainian army could have a reliable source of weapons, air defense systems and its soldiers would be properly trained.
But another reason is that if Donald Trump returns to the White House, it will be more difficult for him to end or reverse Ukraine’s trajectory within NATO.
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