Ukraine receives major NASAMS air defense boost from NATO ally

Ukraine is about to receive the first NASAMS air defense system from Canada until the end of this year, the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky wrote on X, before Twitter.

In a post on Monday, Zelensky wrote that he spoke with the Prime Minister of Canada. Justin Trudeau about Ottawa’s continued support for Ukraine in the war with Russia.

“The Prime Minister said that Canada will ship the first NASAMS air defense system it has ordered to Ukraine. We expect to receive it by the end of this year,” he said. Zelensky.

Newsweek reached out to the Ukrainian and Canadian foreign ministries for comment via email.

NASAMS, which were also sent to Ukraine by the USA, medium-range air defense systems Designed to identify and destroy aircraft, cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) typically used to protect civilians or assets.

The system was first developed in the 1990s by Norwegian defense and aerospace firm Kongsberg together with American organization Raytheon.

Previously, Zelensky pushed the United States to obtain air defense systems in 2022.

Since the beginning of the war, defense contractor Raytheon previously reported Newsweek that she had to significantly increase production as required air defense systems more than doubledmainly due to demand in Ukraine and Israel.

In his post, Zelensky also highly appreciated the conference “Release of Prisoners and Deportees” held in Montreal on October 30-31, at which the issue of the release of prisoners of war and deported Ukrainians was discussed, according to the website of the President of Ukraine.

The head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, said: “We must find a solution for all groups held by Russia: civilians, prisoners of war and children.”

Zelensky also said that the next step should be “the preparation of a final document – a Peace Plan, summarizing the results of all thematic conferences.”

The Ukrainian president went on to write that he and the Canadian prime minister discussed Trudeau’s support for his victory plan.

Zelensky said that they also talked about organizing a Second Peace Summit. The First Peace Summit was held in Switzerland in June. The date for the second has not yet been announced.

Canada said it has provided $4.5 billion in military aid to Ukraine since the war began. This will allow Ottawa to provide assistance to Kyiv until 2029. Canada also provided operational support for the training of Ukrainian soldiers.

On October 18, Canada announced $64.8 million in military assistance to Ukraine, including weapons, ammunition and drones.