KYIV (Reuters) -Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged Kyiv’s allies on Thursday to rethink their own air defence capabilities after incursions into Polish airspace by drones that Warsaw said were Russian.
Speaking in Kyiv beside visiting Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Zelenskiy said Ukraine was “open and ready” to provide support for its allies’ efforts.
Ukraine has fended off many airstrikes since Russia began its war on its neighbour, using an array of Ukrainian and foreign-supplied weapons ranging from old machine guns to advanced missiles.
Zelenskiy said countries such as Poland should explore similar multi-layered approaches as missile systems such as the U.S.-made Patriot were too expensive to use against cheaper drones used by Russia.
“No one in the world has enough missiles to shoot down all different types of drones,” Zelenskiy said.
With backing from its NATO allies on Wednesday, Poland shot down several drones that entered its airspace in what the Polish president said was a provocation by Russia intended to test the response from Poland and NATO.
Zelenskiy said that Ukraine, which is heavily dependent on Western long-range air defence systems but has developed a sophisticated domestic approach to repel Russian attacks, was in a position to provide guidance to its allies on such matters.
He said Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk had already agreed to send military representatives to Ukraine on the issue.
The Polish military representatives will undergo training on shooting down drones, a source familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
(Reporting by Max Hunder and Yuliia Dysa; Writing by Dan Peleschuk; Editing by Aidan Lewis and Timothy Heritage)
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