The Ukrainian side is insisting on a declaration of the coalition on air defense and the announcement of 10 additional Patriot systems by the end of the year.
— Oleksiy Sorokin (@mrsorokaa) July 9, 2024
It’s a long shot, but Ukraine is fighting for every additional air defense system. More to be announced shortly.
2/6
NATO will establish a new structure tasked with coordinating assistance and bringing the Ukrainian military closer to NATO standards.
— Oleksiy Sorokin (@mrsorokaa) July 9, 2024
It's not currently known who will head the mission, with the U.S. pushing for an American and everyone else pushing for a European.
4/6
While some of the allies are in favor of Ukraine's accession, including France and the U.K., there are those who disagree. You can easily guess the countries.
— Oleksiy Sorokin (@mrsorokaa) July 9, 2024
There are concerns that the reason is to keep Ukraine's membership as a bargaining chip in negotiation with Russia.
6/6
America and Germany, Bet.
Happy to see UK is in favour.
"Everyone else pushing for a European" Lol...It has to be, I'm sorry Biden but it can't be an American with fucking Trump coming in.
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Nico Lange, Senior Fellow at Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), told the Kyiv Independent that Ukraine's non-membership of NATO is "exactly the gray zone Vladimir Putin tries to exploit."
"I'm afraid this will be perceived very positively in Moscow, it will be perceived as a success from the Kremlin point of view," he added.
But in Kyiv, with expectations lowered since last year, it's still being viewed on positive, if somewhat resigned, terms.
"Nevertheless, we would like to see in the final document of the summit, an indication that the process of joining NATO is irreversible, that it's only a question of time that Ukraine is going to join NATO," Merezhko said. "That we're not discussing anymore whether or not Ukraine becomes a fully-fledged NATO member, but that we're only discussing when it will happen."
A statement on F-16 fighter jets will announce they will be on the battlefield "this summer," according to people familiar with the matter.
Ukraine has long-been preparing to receive dozens of the aircraft, with a recent uptick of Russian attacks on airfields likely an attempt to disrupt their arrival and deployment.
Although defense experts do not expect F-16s to become game-changers in the war, the jets may strengthen Ukraine's air defense capabilities, helping to prevent attacks like the devastating mass missile attack on July 8.
They will also challenge Russia's "full dominance" of the skies over the Black Sea, Navy Commander Oleksii Neizhpapa told Reuters in an interview published on July 5.
