President Zelensky is injecting himself into the Middle East conflict, meeting with leaders of Gulf nations. Mostly, he is contacting European leaders, such as German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, pleading for the usual desperately needed air defense systems.
“We understand that a long war—if it is long—and the intensity of the military actions will affect the amount of air defense we receive,” Zelensky told reporters on Monday, according to audio of his remarks published by Ukrainian media.
“Everyone understands that, for us, this is a matter of life,” Zelensky said of the arms Ukraine receives through the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List, or PURL, a program European allies use to purchase weapons from the U.S. for Ukraine.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in December urged Ukraine’s allies to “accelerate our contributions” to PURL. Ukraine has said it desperately needs PAC-3 interceptor missiles for the Patriot systems supplied by the U.S. The U.S. has been using its own Patriot systems to protect U.S. military bases and the airspace of allied countries in the Middle East from Iranian retaliatory strikes, reports The Wall Street Journal.
He needs to negotiate.
No more money for foreign dictators. Get Europe to fund your cash laundromat and child trafficking enterprise.