Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on Europe to urgently develop a sovereign defence system capable of intercepting ballistic missiles.
The call for a continental anti-ballistic shield underscores a key vulnerability in Ukraine’s war with Russia and highlights wider weaknesses in European air defence. Ballistic missiles, which descend at supersonic speeds from high altitude, remain one of the most difficult threats for Ukraine to counter.
Currently, only advanced interceptor missiles used by the U.S.-made Patriot system have consistently succeeded in destroying Russian ballistic weapons.
Reliance on American systems, however, is increasingly seen as a strategic risk. Russia has used ballistic missiles extensively to target Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, with repeated strikes overwhelming older Soviet-era defences. These attacks have damaged power stations and disrupted electricity transmission networks across the country.
Speaking to national broadcaster Marathon on Sunday, Zelenskyy outlined plans for a European-led system.
"I believe, and my idea is that we should have a European anti-ballistic missile defence system. We are in talks with several countries and are working in this direction," he said.
He suggested an ambitious timeline: "We need to build our own anti-ballistic missile defence system within a year."
While describing the task as "extremely difficult", Zelenskyy said Europe has the industrial and technological capacity to deliver. He confirmed discussions with several European leaders but did not name participating countries or provide technical details.
The urgency of the proposal is linked to a global shortage of interceptor missiles. Supplies of U.S. Patriot systems have tightened due to competing demands.
Washington has deployed significant resources to the Persian Gulf to defend allied interests against Iranian missile threats, stretching production capacity already under pressure from the war in Ukraine.
As a result, Ukraine has had to ration its most effective air defence systems. Europe’s own alternative, the SAMP/T (Mamba) system developed by Italy and France, remains limited in number and cannot be scaled quickly enough to meet demand.
Alongside political efforts, Ukraine’s defence industry is advancing its own solutions.
Fire Point, a Ukrainian manufacturer known for its ‘Flamingo’ cruise missile, recently told Reuters it is in discussions with major European defence firms to develop a new air defence system by next year.
The aim is to produce a lower-cost alternative to the Patriot system. By combining Ukrainian battlefield data with European manufacturing capacity, developers hope to create an interceptor capable of countering Russian Iskander and Kinzhal missiles more affordably.
If successful, the project could strengthen Ukraine’s air defences while offering European countries a scalable, homegrown solution to improve their own capabilities.
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UN Secretary-General António Guterres delivered a stark warning at this year's COP31 summit, saying the climate crisis iss advancing faster than governments' efforts to contain it.
European leaders gathered in Dublin on Thursday, 12 November, for the ninth European Political Community (EPC) summit, with security, defence and energy high on the agenda. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev held talks focused on peace, trade and regional cooperation.
Here's your AnewZ Daily Brief for 11 November. Today, we cover Russia-Ukraine peace talks, political tensions in Washington, strikes in Spain, espionage allegations involving Nvidia's CEO, and climate negotiations at COP31 in Türkiye.
Iran will not let a single particle of its enriched nuclear material leave the country, and any new U.S. attack would be met with strikes on distant American bases, Iranian security chief Mohsen Rezaei has said.
Four million workers across Spain joined a general strike on Wednesday over the country’s deepening housing crisis, unions said, bringing disruption to factories, ports, shops and public transport just weeks before a snap general election.
European leaders gathered in Dublin on Thursday, 12 November, for the ninth European Political Community (EPC) summit, with security, defence and energy high on the agenda. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev held talks focused on peace, trade and regional cooperation.
Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang is stepping down amid reports linking him to a woman suspected by U.S. authorities of spying for China, throwing the future of the $4 trillion chipmaker into uncertainty.
Tajikistan is urging regional allies to step up support for its border with Afghanistan following a series of deadly armed incidents. Despite building more than 80 new border outposts, Dushanbe says it needs further assistance to secure its southern frontier.
Eight people have been killed and at least 17 injured after an apartment building collapsed into a neighbouring construction site in Brooklyn, New York, as rescuers continued searching the rubble for possible survivors.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has thanked U.S. President Donald Trump for facilitating talks between Russia and Ukraine, but warned that any foreign troops deployed in Ukraine would be considered legitimate targets by Moscow.
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