Ukraine receives Patriot anti-aircraft system from Israel: Zelenskyy

Ukraine received a US-made Patriot air defense system from Israel a month ago, with two more expected in coming months, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday.

Kyiv is scrambling to beef up its air defenses to repel daily Russian barrages of drones and missiles, especially ahead of winter, with heating infrastructure a frequent target of the attacks.

“The Israeli (Patriot) system is operating in Ukraine. It has been operating for a month. We will receive two Patriot systems in the fall,” Zelenskyy told journalists during a briefing.

Zelenskyy spoke following his return from New York, where he addressed the United Nations and met with US President Donald Trump and other senior US officials.

After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Israel adopted a neutral position by not sanctioning Russia, unlike the Western allies.

But its ties with Moscow cooled as Russia drifted closer to Iran, which the West says supplies drones that attack Ukraine, and as the Kremlin condemned Israel’s war in Gaza.

Zelenskyy said that in September-October, US and Ukrainian delegations will be holding several meetings on weapons purchases through “various programs”, without specifying the source of financing.

Zelenskyy said that Kyiv provided Washington with a list of the weapons Ukraine wanted as part of a plan to purchase $90 billion worth of arms from Washington, which he first mentioned in August.

When asked to comment on media reports on Ukraine’s alleged request of US long-range Tomahawk missiles, Zelenskyy said Kyiv was “ready for separate agreements on specific types of weapons, including long-range weapons.”

He declined to provide more details, saying this was “a very sensitive issue.”

Zelenskyy also said Ukraine and the United States now have “a mutual understanding of what is really happening on the battlefield and what progress can be made,” adding that his meeting with Trump was “very good.”