Zelensky urges NATO to boost air defenses as Putin tries to break Ukraine’s resistance through Terror

Zelensky called on members of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly to urge their governments to strengthen Ukraine’s air defenses and to supply the missiles the country needs.

“The decisions are needed in coming weeks on both systems and missiles,” he emphasized.

The President also highlighted Russia’s inability to achieve its stated objectives on the battlefield, largely because Ukraine no longer faces a severe shortage of weaponry.

“Russia has failed many times to carry out Putin’s order to take Donbas. They keep delaying this senseless goal. In summer, they told the United States of America and others they would achieve it in a few months — by October or November. Instead, it is our troops that are pushing forward now,” Zelensky noted.

He said these results were possible because Ukraine has largely overcome the shortage of standard weapons it faced earlier — thanks to the growth of domestic defense production, which now accounts for over 40 percent of weapons on the front line.

At the same time, Zelensky stressed that every package of international military assistance matters, urging lawmakers to continue supporting Ukraine.

“The worse things are for Russia at the front, the greater the internal pressure on Putin to negotiate seriously,” he said.

Read also: Zelensky to NATO PA: some components for Russian missiles and drones still come from Europe

During his address, Zelensky also thanked all the countries that have joined NATO’s PURL initiative under which allies finance U.S. weapons for Ukraine.

He noted that the program also helps demonstrate to the U.S. administration the importance of the transatlantic alliance.

“I thank the countries that have already joined the PURL program — the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Canada, the Baltic states, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Iceland — and I thank Slovenia as well for its decision to join,” Zelensky stated.

“Air terror is Putin’s last move. We must stop it, deny him victories on the ground and in the sky — then real diplomacy becomes possible,” the President concluded.

As reported, Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans recently urged other nations to join the PURL program, noting that contributions from Nordic states alone are insufficient to meet Ukraine’s defense needs. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha announced on Monday that seven more countries plan to join the initiative with specific contributions.