A number of Ukraine’s NATO allies are falling short on pledges to accelerate deliveries of air-defense systems and other military equipment to fend off Russia’s offensive, according to people familiar with the matter.
Several North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies have yet to follow through with commitments they reaffirmed at the alliance’s summit in Washington last month, the people said on condition of anonymity. Those include pledges to send at least five additional long-range systems, they said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy renewed calls for urgent help from allies as his forces launched a surprise incursion into Russian territory this month. The president, who has lamented that fresh U.S. weapons supplies were taking too long to reach the front, reinforced the plea for faster deliveries this week.
“There are no vacations in war,” Zelenskyy said in an address to the nation Sunday. “Decisions are needed, as is timely logistics for the announced aid packages. I especially address this to the United States, the United Kingdom and France.”
The NATO air-defense pledge, which included commitments that had already been made, was the centerpiece of allied support at the alliance’s July summit. President Joe Biden called it — along with dozens of shorter-range systems — a “historic donation.”
The U.S., Germany and Romania each vowed to send a Patriot system, with a fourth provided with components from several nations. Italy pledged to send a SAMP-T surface-to-air system. Other allies committed to sending other systems and munitions to Ukraine.
Ukraine will come under additional strain as the third full winter of the conflict approaches — and as citizens already struggle with rolling blackouts prompted by decimated energy infrastructure.
Many of the NATO pledges are unlikely to be fulfilled by autumn, when Russia is expected to exploit the war-battered nation’s vulnerabilities and intensify its bombardment of Ukraine’s critical infrastructure, the people said.
Deep Strikes
As Russia presses ahead with its war-footing, the support among Ukraine’s allies remains uneven, according to one official. Another said some allies are falling behind on providing military equipment to Ukraine’s reserve forces, which is affecting the country’s defenses.
Zelenskyy also drove home his demand that the U.S. and some European allies lift remaining restrictions on the use of long-range weapons, arguing that his military cross-border incursion in Russia’s western Kursk region exposed Kremlin threats of retaliation as “illusory.”
Zelenskyy’s government has argued that deep strikes into Russia are necessary to hit airfields and launchers from which Moscow initiates attacks on Ukrainian cities and infrastructure. Allies such as the U.S., Germany and Italy have so far resisted the request, with some only allowing for limited use of their weapons inside Russian territory.
Ukraine touted the first occupation of Russian territory since World War II, which has prompted the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents and a military response that could draw troops and hardware from the front line.
Although Zelenskyy said the Ukrainian military had seized more than 1,250 square kilometers (483 square miles) in the Kursk region, the Kremlin’s forces pressed forward with grinding advances in eastern Ukraine.
Its troops approached the city of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region, an important logistics hub for Ukrainian forces. Local authorities have issued evacuation warnings.
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