NATO Summit in Ankara: Zelenskiy’s Call for Membership and Missile Support

During the NATO summit held in Ankara, Turkey, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy emphasized the importance of Ukraine being welcomed into the alliance. He also urged NATO to expedite the delivery of additional missiles to help Ukraine in its ongoing conflict.

The two-day summit brought together world leaders, including US President Donald Trump, who arrived in Turkey on Air Force One, a distinctive red, white, and blue Boeing 747-8. Zelenskiy, arriving by private jet, was one of the first to address the gathering, advocating for increased missile production in Ukraine and reaffirming the country’s desire to join NATO.

The topic of Ukraine’s potential NATO membership has been a point of discussion since the Russian invasion in 2022. However, the situation is complicated by the fact that Ukraine is currently engaged in war, with significant territory occupied by Russia. Despite these challenges, Zelenskiy used his platform to stress the necessity of Ukraine’s inclusion in NATO, positioning it as a vital issue amid his negotiations.

“We have improved our interception rate against Russian drone attacks to over 90 percent. No other nation can defend against drones as effectively as we can. So I have to ask: is it really right to exclude a country with this level of defense from NATO?” said Zelenskiy. He highlighted the shared trust among the allies, suggesting it naturally leads to Ukraine’s inclusion in the security community.

While Ukraine has performed well in intercepting drone strikes and cruise missiles, dealing with ballistic missiles poses a different challenge altogether. Successfully targeting these missiles can only be managed by a select few specialized interceptors that are both complicated and costly to procure.

For Ukraine and many in the West, American-made Patriot missiles represent the primary defense option, originally designed to counter long-range nuclear threats. Given the limited stock and slower production rates of these missiles, Ukraine faces difficulties in adequately defending against wide-ranging missile attacks from Russia.

Zelenskiy expressed that acquiring more missiles remains a key objective at the NATO summit. He pointed out that storing Patriot missiles away in Western warehouses is unproductive; they should be sent to Ukraine to aid the fight against Russian aggression. He also called for Europe to develop its own missile interception programs, decreasing reliance on American systems.

“Europe must establish strong defenses against Russian ballistic missiles. This is a pressing issue and it has global implications as evidenced by conflicts in the Middle East. We admire the Patriot system, but current production levels are insufficient for the increasingly urgent need for missile protection,” Zelenskiy stated. He highlighted the necessity for affordable, mass-produced anti-ballistic systems to be made available as soon as possible.

Zelenskiy commented that Ukraine is capable of handling many aspects of its defense independently, except for the production of ballistic missile interceptors, and urged a focus on this critical need.

As the summit progressed, Zelenskiy reaffirmed, “As our partners have said, Ukraine truly belongs here.” He is scheduled for bilateral discussions with President Trump the following day.