Zelenskyy and Rutte Discuss Air Defense Shortages and Starshield Disruptions at Dublin Summit

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Dublin on November 12 on the sidelines of the European Political Community summit.

During the meeting, they discussed air defense shortages, PAC-2 and PAC-3 interceptor missiles, and Starshield disruptions amid Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to Zelenskyy.

The Ukrainian president thanked Rutte for NATO’s ongoing support in protecting Ukraine’s skies.

“In addition to the constant shortage of anti-ballistic missiles, which Russia uses to destroy our energy sector, significant difficulties are added by disruptions in Starshield operations along the front line and in Ukrainian temporarily occupied territories. This significantly limits the ability to intercept jet-powered Shaheds. Of course, only the Russians benefit from this,” Zelenskyy said.

Zelenskyy stressed that as trilateral negotiations become more active, Ukraine must not be left with empty air defense launchers and must retain the ability to defend itself.

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“Artificial restrictions do not work for peace – they work for the aggressor,” Zelenskyy added.

His remarks follow reports of an even more critical situation involving Ukraine’s Patriot missile stockpiles, with a source familiar with the matter telling CNN on October 15 that the country had completely exhausted its available interceptors.

According to the report, the shortage has significantly undermined Ukraine’s ability to intercept Russian ballistic missiles, raising concerns about the country’s vulnerability to further attacks.

The source told CNN that “almost all the ballistic missiles from the last strike were not intercepted due to lack of the (interceptor) missiles.”

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