Assistance to Ukraine’s air defense: working group set up within Ukraine-NATO Council

Ambassador Nataliia Halibarenko, chief of Ukraine’s Mission to NATO, told about this during a virtual briefing with the Ukrainian mass media on Wednesday, reports an Ukrinform correspondent.

"All NATO countries, without any exceptions, have declared that they will continue to support Ukraine, that they and the leadership of their governments do not experience any fatigue. Everyone understands that this war will be a long one rather than a short thing. Therefore, there is an understanding that aid should flow continuously. Among the positive aspects, our allies noted the effectiveness of our air defenses. According to the efficiency of shooting down Shahed drones and cruise missiles, we are talking more than 80 percent. As for ballistic missiles, it is not yet possible to see such efficiency, for reasons we all know," the Ukrainian diplomat said.

She noted that some of the Allies have announced new military aid packages for Ukraine and an increase in NATO's contribution to the so-called comprehensive aid package to Ukraine. This tool, which is commonly used to deliver non-lethal equipment and supplies, including anti-drone capabilities, fuel and lubricants for hardware, tourniquets and medicines, may in the future be used in humanitarian demining projects and restoration of certain infrastructure facilities in Ukraine.

According to the representative of the Ukrainian diplomacy, one of the additional directions of such a comprehensive package of financial assistance may be to support the implementation of projects for the development of an integrated air defense system in Ukraine.

According to the announcements made during the Ukraine-NATO Council, Allies will allocate at least EUR 500 million to achieve these comprehensive objectives this year.

Answering Ukrinform's clarifying question, Galibarenko added that a group has already been created within the Ukraine-NATO Council that will study the issue of Ukraine’s air defense capabilities.

"The first meeting of the working group will be held next week. We want to present our proposals and hear the proposals of our partners. At a certain stage, even companies that have advanced technologies in this field will be involved in this work, so that there is no such theoretical discourse," Galibarenko said. According to the ambassador, in this context and at this stage, this is, first of all, about Western defense companies involved in the production of modern air defense systems.

As Ukrinform, an extraordinary meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Council at the ambassadorial level was held on Wednesday, January 10, at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, convened at the initiative of the Ukrainian side in response to Russia’s massive missile and drone strikes on Ukraine.

Photo: Joint Forces Command, Armed Forces of Ukraine