Ukrainian, Swedish ministers discuss strengthening of defense capabilities

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) – The defense ministers of Ukraine and Sweden discussed ways to strengthen Kyiv's security mechanism in a phone conversation on Tuesday as Russian strikes on various Ukrainian cities entered their third week.

“Today, I had a conversation with the recently appointed Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson. I congratulated my colleague on his appointment and invited him to visit Kyiv. We discussed new projects to strengthen Ukraine’s defense capabilities. We are grateful to Sweden for its tremendous support,” Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said on Twitter.

Reznikov’s phone conversation with Jonson followed similar discussions held with his Turkish, US, UK, French and Israeli counterparts on Monday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged the European Union on Thursday to speed up shipments of air defense systems, noting that nearly a third of the country’s power stations have been destroyed in Russian attacks.

Reiterating the need for more air defense systems to counter Russian attacks, Zelenskyy asked European leaders to speed up the implementation of resolutions in this regard as much as possible.