AFU Commander-in-chief Urged Trump To Help Move The War To Russia
- 23.07.2025, 11:42
Defense systems from the U.S. are not enough.
The defense systems that Donald Trump has promised to sell Kiev are not enough to stop Russia's aggressive campaign to destroy Ukraine. Long-range offensive weapons are needed that can be used to strike Russian production facilities and delivery routes for missiles and drones, the commander-in-chief of Ukraine's armed forces, Alexandr Syrsky, said in an interview with The Washington Post.
The Russian army is shelling "practically everything - airfields, populated areas, infrastructure," Syrsky said, adding, "Therefore, of course, we need deliveries of ballistic missiles to give the enemy a decent response." He called on the U.S. and European countries to provide Ukraine with more medium- and long-range missiles, including the U.S. ATACMS and German Taurus, and without the range restrictions that the Joe Biden administration has set. That, Syrsky said, would allow Kiev to undermine Russian weapons production by shelling out missile and drone production.
Trump's promised new deliveries of air defense systems, including Patriot surface-to-air missile systems, drone interceptors and light aircraft to shoot down drones, would help combat the bombings, Syrsky said. The Russian army has been sending hundreds of attack drones and one to several dozen missiles at Ukrainian cities almost every night in recent months. But this is not enough to counter aggression, assures Syrsky: "The presence of any missile weapons is a deterrent in itself. I hope that thanks to President Trump's position, this process will be much simplified, and we will not have the difficulties we had before."
Trump early last week promised to organize deliveries of Patriot, as well as other air defense equipment. The basic scheme is as follows: European countries will provide Kiev with their existing systems and buy new ones from the United States in return.
Germany and the United States are already close to concluding such an agreement, Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the negotiations. Berlin will send two of its own Patriot batteries to Kiev, while Washington will replace them with deliveries from production stocks. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius also said: Berlin will do everything possible to deliver a total of five Patriot systems to Ukraine "as soon as possible".
As for offensive weapons, Pistorius said in July that Germany would not give Taurus missiles to Ukraine.