By KYIV. Dec 22 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the U.S. President’s decision to provide Ukraine with a Patriot missile battery opens the door for other Patriots.
"Ukraine will soon receive the first battery of these modern systems [Patriot], and this is a completely new level of sky protection. More importantly, this decision by President Biden opens the door for other Patriots. The path to this decision began even before a full-scale war," he said on Facebook.
Kuleba said that in April 2021, the head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak was the first to publicly call on the United States to provide this complex. According to the minister, in November-December 2021, he raised the issue of air defense systems in the negotiations.
"In the very first days of the war, President Zelensky, Yermak, Reznikov and me again convinced our American partners: we need a Patriot! Already at the end of November, we again intensified this conversation. In particular, when I was at the NATO ministerial meeting, I frankly said that came for transformers and ‘Patriot" the Foreign Minister said.
He said "final chord" was a telephone conversation between the leaders of Ukraine and the United States in December.
"Undoubtedly, it was the close, trusting relationship of the presidents that played a key role. Patriot in Ukraine is life and civilian infrastructure preserved. This is another strategic defeat for Russia, which will lose leverage for intimidation and terror. This is the approach of the day of our Victory," Kuleba said.
He also said that apart from "Patriot" there were many more important topics at the talks.
