Sergiy Boyev calls for strengthening Ukraine’s air defense at extraordinary NATO-Ukraine Council meeting

Sergiy Boyev, Deputy Minister of Defence of Ukraine; Oleksandr Mishchenko, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine; and Roman Andarak, Deputy Minister of Energy of Ukraine, participated in the NATO-Ukraine Council meeting.

At the request of Ukraine’s Mission to NATO in Brussels, an extraordinary meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council convened in the Political Affairs Committee format. The meeting was convened in response to recent large-scale russian strikes against Ukraine, including the use by russia of the intermediate-range ballistic missile ‘Oreshnik’.

The meeting was joined online by Sergiy Boyev, Deputy Minister of Defence of Ukraine; Oleksandr Mishchenko, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine; and Roman Andarak, Deputy Minister of Energy of Ukraine.

Ukrainian representatives briefed Allies on the current security situation and the russian federation’s systematic attacks on Ukraine’s critical energy infrastructure. They stressed that these actions are intended to trigger a humanitarian catastrophe during the winter period by depriving Ukraine’s civilian population of electricity, water, and heating. Ukrainian officials emphasized that the situation in the energy system remains extremely challenging and that Ukraine urgently requires additional capabilities to protect it, including strengthened air defense.

“russia has substantially increased its missile and drone attacks against Ukraine. This clearly demonstrates russia’s exclusive focus on further escalation. We urgently require additional missiles for Patriot and NASAMS systems,” Deputy Minister of Defence Sergiy Boyev said.

He further emphasized that russia’s use of an intermediate-range ballistic missile near NATO’s borders constitutes another manifestation of its aggressive policy and its total lack of commitment to peace.  He also called on Allies to invest in the PURL program and in the development of defense production, particularly in the interceptor drone segment.

Deputy Minister of Energy Roman Andarak briefed meeting participants on the measures Ukraine is taking to ensure the stable operation of the energy system and outlined priority needs to protect, repair, and restore damaged energy infrastructure and to support its resilience.