Canadian Defense Minister Blair
Canadian Defense Minister Bill Bair announced that he would contribute 76 million Canadian dollars to the German initiative to strengthen Ukraine’s air defense.
Canadian Defense Minister Bill Blair announced that he would contribute 76 million Canadian dollars (around 52 million euros) to the German initiative aimed at strengthening Ukrainian air defense. “This investment will help Ukraine defend itself against the brutal attacks that destroyed hospitals, power plants and apartment buildings and killed thousands of innocent Ukrainians,” Blair said Friday in Ottawa at a conference joint press conference with Federal Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius (SPD). .
For his part, Pistorius said the Iris-T air defense systems would be delivered to kyiv in the coming weeks “because we have no time to lose.”
Germany launched the Immediate Action Air Defense Initiative (IAAD) in April and called on its allies to provide and fund more air defense for Ukraine. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also encouraged countries with Patriot systems to hand them over to kyiv.
Last month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told NATO members that his country needed at least seven additional Patriot or other high-quality air defense systems to repel Russian air attacks. In recent weeks, Moscow has increasingly targeted important infrastructure in Ukraine.
Defense Minister Pistorius wanted to end his multi-day trip to North America on Friday and return to Berlin in the evening (local time). He met, among others, the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, and the US Secretary of Defense, Austin, in New York and Washington.
HOME PAGE
“Internet evangelist. Extreme communicator. Subtly charming alcohol aficionado. Typical tv geek.”