Air defence top priority for Kyiv - US National Security Council spokesperson

The United States and its allies do not have many Patriot air defence systems in their inventory, but air defence remains a top priority for Ukraine, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said on June 5.

"I can assure you that air defence remains top of the list of the kinds of capabilities that we're going to continue to make sure Ukraine has," Kirby said when asked if the United States is considering sending more Patriot systems to Ukraine. "There's not a lot of them, either in our inventory or the inventory of nations that have purchased them, but again, I don't want to get ahead of where we are. We know air defence is a priority," he said, according to Sputnik.

Earlier, media reported that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes that the only system capable of intercepting some of Russia's advanced missiles is the US-made Patriot air defence system, and that Ukraine needs 50 such systems.

In December 2022, the United States announced a $1.85 billion security assistance package for Ukraine, including a Patriot air defence system expected to arrive in the coming months. Germany and the Netherlands followed suit, also pledging Patriots to Ukraine.