Ukraine is set to press NATO allies for urgent decisions on air defence at next week's summit in Ankara, following a Russian ballistic missile strike that killed at least 30 people in Kyiv overnight on 2 July. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who will attend the summit, has called on nearly 40 partner countries to transfer Patriot interceptor missiles from existing stockpiles this month, with a promise to backfill them later using deliveries already contracted for Ukraine.
Speaking at the site of a damaged residential building in the Darnytskyi district of the capital, Zelenskyy said delayed deliveries had come at a human cost. “If our partners had delivered what they promised on time, we could have saved more homes and, frankly, more lives,” he said.
The US-made Patriot system remains Ukraine's only effective defence against ballistic missiles, but officials say supplies of interceptors have fallen critically low. According to Ukraine's defence ministry, while Kyiv has signed contracts for hundreds of PAC‑2 Patriot missiles with German support, deliveries are not expected to begin for several years. People familiar with the discussions said that during recent attacks, only a handful of interceptors were available to counter dozens of incoming missiles – a stark contrast with earlier engagements when sufficient stocks allowed entire salvos to be shot down.
Production constraints and global demand
Manufactured in the US by Raytheon and Lockheed Martin, Patriots have been widely used by US allies, particularly in the Gulf, as well as by Ukraine. But the US and Israel's war on Iran has depleted nearly a third of the global stockpile of Patriot interceptors; Gulf states have collectively fired more than 1,100 of them in recent months. Production remains limited: according to Zelenskyy, Lockheed Martin produces roughly 600 interceptors a year, or about 60 to 65 per month. Ukrainian officials say Russia is producing around 120 ballistic missiles monthly, alongside other systems, and has increasingly tailored its strikes to exploit gaps in Ukraine's air defence, sometimes launching around 30 ballistic missiles in a single night.
Kyiv insists that such large-scale aerial assaults clearly demonstrate where funds need to be channelled. The push for air defence comes as Russia deploys faster jet-powered drones to overwhelm Ukraine's defences, compounding the challenge.
What Ukraine expects from the Ankara summit
Kyiv's main battleground in Ankara is expected to be the summit declaration. According to sources familiar with the matter, Ukraine wants European NATO member states to endorse a clearly defined financial commitment for military support fixed for at least two years, explicitly framed as a minimum baseline rather than a ceiling. Second, Ukraine seeks concrete steps to strengthen air defence – the most urgent issue amid Russia's use of jet-powered drones and ballistic missiles. This could include immediate donations from stockpiles, financed procurement of new interceptors, and decisions on licensing and industrial co‑operation that embed Ukraine in a future European missile‑defence architecture.
At their recent summit in Évian-les-Bains, France, G7 leaders adopted a joint statement saying they were “ready to consider” issuing military production licenses to Ukraine. Having successfully mounted a mid- and long-range strike campaign against Russian military and energy sites in occupied Crimea and Moscow – Russia's most protected areas in terms of air defence – Ukraine hopes to continue the license discussion in Turkey next week.
A Euronews source said that Kyiv's goal in Ankara is to shift NATO's perception of Ukraine “from aid recipient to security provider.” The high‑level official said many allies now privately acknowledge that Ukraine has become a net contributor to Euro‑Atlantic security, both by degrading Russia's conventional forces and by sharing expertise on drone and missile defence after incidents affecting NATO territory. Ukraine's recent offers of security support to Gulf states following Iranian strikes have reinforced that perception.
What Kyiv now seeks is for the summit declaration to codify this change with explicit language recognising Ukraine as a “contributor to security.” This shift would mark a significant evolution in Ukraine's relationship with NATO, moving beyond the framework of a recipient of aid to a partner that actively enhances the alliance's collective defence. The summit in Ankara, coming after a deadly strike that has galvanised public opinion, may prove a pivotal moment in that transformation.
