NATO and Ukrainian officials are set to meet next week to discuss Russia’s air campaign against Ukraine, which has included large waves of attacks since the start of the year.
NATO spokesperson Dylan White said Thursday that NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg would convene the NATO-Ukraine Council on January 10 “following recent Russian missile and drone attacks.”
Ukrainian officials have pushed for allies to bolster the country’s air defenses, while Russia has used daily missile and drone attacks to target Ukrainian cities.
Two of the most active nights of Russian attacks have taken place during the past week, including dozens of missiles and drones targeting the capital, Kyiv.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Wednesday that a key topic for the NATO-Ukraine Council meeting would be strengthening Ukrainian air defenses, and he called the talks an “important sign of Euro-Atlantic unity in the face of Russian terror escalation.”
On Tuesday, Kuleba called on allies to quickly send air defense systems and ammunition to Ukraine, and to provide Ukrainian forces with combat drones and missiles with ranges longer than 300 kilometers.
Kuleba also called for approvals to use seized Russian assets to help Ukraine and to isolate Russian diplomats.
Ukraine said Thursday that Russia continued its aerial attacks overnight with two drones that Ukrainian air defenses downed in the Khmelnytskyi area.
The Russian attack also included three guided missiles targeting Kharkiv and Donetsk, the Ukrainian air force said.
Some information for this report came from Agence France-Presse and Reuters.