Germany starts hunt for more air defences as Zelenskiy pleads for Patriots

By Sabine Siebold, Andrew Gray and Makini Brice

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Germany launched a fresh bid on Wednesday to chase down more air defence systems for Ukraine, which in past weeks has suffered some of the heaviest Russian attacks since the full-scale invasion in 2022.

Berlin aims to potentially surpass the sum of 1 billion euros which it collected with a similar initiative last year, Defence Minister Boris Pistorius told reporters in Brussels.

He was speaking before a meeting of the Ramstein group of some 50 nations set up by the U.S. to coordinate military aid. It has been co-chaired by Germany and Britain since Washington decided to no longer lead the group.

Washington was represented by its NATO Ambassador Matthew Whitaker, with U.S. Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth expected to join a day later for a meeting with his NATO counterparts.

Addressing the gathering at NATO's Brussels headquarters online, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy repeated his calls for more air defences to protect Ukrainians, in particular for Patriot or similar systems.

"The stronger our air defence is, the less value (Russian President Vladimir) Putin sees in attacking our cities and villages, so please let's continue strengthening our air shield," he said.

"This is the most effective way to force Russia to stop its missile strikes and terror," he added.

British Defence Secretary John Healey said Moscow was routinely firing over 300 drones a day into Ukraine, a rate of fire that could be sustained throughout 2025.

"President Putin continues to prove he's not for peace, he remains set on death, destruction and destabilisation," he said.

Pistorius said Berlin had asked the United States and other allies to donate more Patriots or similar air defences.

"We have also offered, on a case-by-case basis, to look into paying for such systems that could be freed up. We cannot wait for industrial deliveries, this simply takes too long," he said.

(Reporting by Sabine Siebold and Bart Meijer; Writing by Makini Brice; Editing by Rod Nickel)