Ukraine, NATO discussing further areas of Cooperation

Ukraine’s foreign minister says NATO diplomats have given him a “number of new commitments” but declined to say whether that included Patriot missile batteries.

Equipping Ukraine with arms and equipment to rebuild its damaged electrical grid to survive winter under Russian bombardment has been a top issue at the NATO meeting of foreign ministers.

At the gathering, “we heard a number of commitments, new commitments, from various NATO members with regard to providing Ukraine with more defensive weapons and energy equipment,” Dmytro Kuleba told reporters.

Ukraine wants US-made Patriot missile batteries or other air defence systems that are more advanced than those it has gotten so far from the United States and other allies.

Kuleba did not respond to repeated questions from a reporter ahead of a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken about whether he had received any commitments on Patriots.

Ukraine needs US-made Patriot missile defence systems to protect its civilian infrastructure, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said, adding he would be working with the German government on this issue.

On Tuesday, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned NATO against providing Ukraine with Patriot systems.

Kuleba also said Ukraine would eventually become a member of NATO, saying that in the interim, its defence should be bolstered.

did not mean that nothing could be done now in that respect.

Meanwhile, A presidential aide said that a teenager was killed after the shelling of a hospital in the northern Ukrainian region of Sumy.

Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential administration, said on Telegram that Russian forces had targeted the region with artillery and mortar bombs during the past 24 hours.

Another person was killed and one wounded in Russian shelling of the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, regional governor Yaroslav Yanushevych added.

Britain unveiled a new round of sanctions on Russian officials, imposed on those accused of spearheading recent mobilisation efforts and the recruitment of “criminal mercenaries”.