On May 28 (UK time), according to Reuters, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sent a letter to US President Donald Trump and the US Congress, calling on Washington to urgently increase Patriot interceptor missile aid after Russia continuously attacked many Ukrainian cities with ballistic missiles.
According to Reuters, Mr. Zelensky believes that ballistic missiles are currently Russia's "last major advantage" on the battlefield. The Ukrainian leader said that if this capability is neutralized, Moscow will be forced to return to the negotiating table.
As long as President Putin maintains a significant military advantage, he will continue to avoid diplomacy," Zelensky wrote in a letter to Washington.
The Ukrainian Air Force said that Russia launched 30 ballistic missiles in a large-scale attack on May 25, but Kiev only shot down 11 of them. Mr. Zelensky also accused Russia of using two Oreshnik supersonic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
Currently, Patriot is the only system in Ukraine's arsenal capable of effectively intercepting Russian ballistic missiles. However, Kiev has repeatedly complained about the serious shortage of interceptor missile supply.
According to Reuters, the Patriot systems are expected to be provided by the US through the European-funded Purl initiative, but the transfer progress is being affected by the conflict with Iran and Mr. Trump's lack of goodwill towards Ukraine.
In addition to Patriot, Ukraine also owns SAMP/T systems manufactured by France and Italy, but Kiev believes that this system needs to be upgraded to effectively respond to ballistic missiles.
Meanwhile, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that it had controlled more villages in Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia. However, the Ukrainian military denied this information, claiming that Russian forces suffered "great losses in personnel and equipment".
Some Western military experts believe that the war situation is gradually changing. General Andriy Biletsky of the 3rd Ukrainian Army Corps believes that Kiev has about "6-9 pivotal months" to regain control before entering potential peace talks.
