WARSAW, Poland, July 9, (AP): Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday that he expects the upcoming NATO summit to provide specific steps to strengthen his country's air defenses against Russia, hours after a Russian missile attack killed at least 31 people and wounded 154 others in various locations, including a children's hospital in Kyiv.
Zelenskyy met with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Warsaw to discuss further support for Ukraine from NATO, as well as signing a bilateral cooperation and defense document.
"We would like to see greater resolve in our partners and hear resolute responses to these attacks," Zelenskyy told a joint news conference, stressing that Ukraine will take its own retaliatory steps.
"I can see a possibility for our partners to use their air defense systems in a way to hit .. the missiles that are carrying out attacks on our country," Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy stopped in Warsaw en route to a NATO summit, which begins Tuesday in Washington, marking the Western defense alliance’s 75th anniversary. Leaders are expected to discuss ways of providing reliable long-term security aid and military training for Ukraine more than two years after Russia's full-scale invasion.
At the start of the news conference with Tusk, Zelenskyy asked those gathered to observe a moment of silence for the victims of Monday's airstrikes.
Tusk offered every available form of help for the children evacuated from the bombed hospital.
The two leaders signed a cooperation and defense agreement that spells out Poland's continued support for Ukraine in defense, especially air defense, energy security for Ukraine, and Poland's participation in reconstruction.
A legion of Ukrainian volunteers currently abroad will be trained in Poland with the aim of joining the defense effort on Ukraine's soil, Zelenskyy said.