President says partners have begun to "hold back" missiles to air defense

Ukraine's partners have begun "holding back" missiles for air defense systems amid provocations with Russian drones. This was announced by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy talking to journalists in the OP's chat room.

Earlier, the head of state said that Ukraine has a shortage of missiles for some air defense systems and that there are essentially three options: licenses, ready-made missiles from partners, or funding for the purchase.

Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine will not be able to produce missiles for NASAMS, IRIS-T, Hawk, or Patriot systems in the near future.

"We don't have any licenses. We have approached our partners. Unfortunately, they are not ready to give us licenses yet. The second option is to buy missiles. Can we do that? We can, although, to be honest, at some points our partners have begun to hold back missiles for air defense, and we are not yet able to get the full volumes we need," the president said.

According to him, this is because Russia has intimidated Europeans with its drones. He clarified that societies in some countries have raised this issue.

"And I think it is happening, our partners are holding back a little bit and not delivering, but I am still grateful that we are getting certain volumes of supplies," he emphasized.

The Head of State said that it is difficult with Patriot PAC-3 systems. The Americans produce only 55-60 units per year, but they are working to increase volumes.

• On December 16, it was reported that Britain has decided to provide 600 million pounds, equivalent to more than $800 million, to strengthen Ukraine's air defense.