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NATO chief urges allies to send more air defence systems to Ukraine

12.10.2022 14:00
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has urged allies to send more air defence systems to Ukraine to help it defend itself against intensified Russian attacks.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.Photo: EPA/OLIVIER HOSLET

Speaking at the start of a two-day meeting of NATO defence ministers in Brussels, Stoltenberg said that Russia's "horrific, indiscriminate attacks" on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine this week showed why such deliveries were so important, news agencies reported.

"We need different types of air defence--short-range, long-range, air defence systems to take ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, drones, different systems for different tasks," he told reporters on arrival for the meeting, as quoted by the Reuters news agency.

More than 50 countries gathered on the sidelines of the NATO meeting in Brussels on Wednesday to discuss ways of strengthening Ukraine's air defence capabilities amid stepped-up Russian missile strikes, according to officials.

Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak was among those taking part in the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) meeting, the sixth such gathering since the international group was formed in April, the Polish defence ministry said.

NATO's Stoltenberg on Tuesday described Moscow's missile strikes on civilian targets in cities across Ukraine as a sign of weakness.

The attacks killed at least 19 people and injured more than 100, according to Ukrainian officials.

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Tuesday that the United States was working to speed up the delivery of two sophisticated National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) to Ukraine.

Meanwhile, a German defence ministry official said that Ukraine on Tuesday received the first of four IRIS-T SLM air defence systems that Germany had promised to supply, according to Reuters.

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Source: IAR, PAP, Reuters, nato.int