In the NATO summit taking place in Ankara, Turkey, the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, pleaded for assistance from Western partners for the provision of advanced air defenses, particularly U.S.-supplied Patriots. While noting that Ukraine is well-capable of defending itself on the ground level, Zelensky stressed the importance of urgent partner aid in addressing the issue of growing ballistic missile strikes by Russia that resulted in the death of over 50 civilians in the capital of Kyiv.

Ukraine's current long-range strike by its own drones deep inside the enemy territory, striking oil refineries and military installations even as far as Siberia and Crimea, is causing serious energy shortages and blackouts in Russia. Moscow has already intercepted as many as 430 Ukrainian drones at once. Zelensky will be meeting with NATO leaders and Donald Trump in order to explain that these strikes are shattering the economy of Russia and that urgent assistance in air defense will give him an opportunity to bring Vladimir Putin to negotiating table honorably.