When will the US send more Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine? That is the question hanging in the air at the Recovery Conference in .
More money, more ways of delivering it — like a new “EU flagship recovery fund” to attract private investment — and the announcement that Ukraine can now enter the crucial fundamentals cluster of EU accession.
All of these are important . But none of this really matters unless Ukraine can defend itself and its people, right now.
There are standing ovations as Ukraine‘s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his wife go up the escalator to the conference hall.
Inside, nobody needs to be told that he is struggling from day to day while simultaneously planning for the day after fighting ends.
Zelenskyy highlights the stolen Ukrainian children who may “forget who they are.”
“Europe will be at your side as long as it takes,” European Commission President promises on stage.
For three and a half years, President Zelenskyy has been hoping to hear a “whatever it takes.” So far, all allies are willing to stay the course, but not go all in.
Just how much Europe is hanging on every word of US President Donald Trump becomes tangible and then German Chancellor goes off script, calling on Trump to “stay with us!” It is neither his style nor his character to plead like that.
The warning to Putin sounds defiant: “We won‘t give up!” Merz tells him from stage, clearly carefully avoiding anything that could sound like a military threat.
The conference is a success by paving a way to a better future for Ukraine that could see frozen Russian assets used to fund it.
But there is also no doubt here that that will only happen if those air defense systems arrive — and soon.
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