Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says his country needs 25 Patriot air defense systems to fully protect itself from Russian attacks.
His remarks come as Russia continues its missile and drone attacks on Ukraine. Authorities in the eastern city of Kharkiv say eight civilians were killed in strikes on residential areas on Saturday.
Zelenskyy said in an interview with local media aired on Saturday that Russian attacks have been intense.
He said that if Russia were to continue to strike his country every day in the way it has for the past month, Ukraine may run out of air defense missiles.
Zelenskyy called for swift support from Western countries. He said 25 Patriot systems may sound like a large number, but that Ukraine's territory is also large.
The president also mentioned an expected summit in Switzerland to discuss Kyiv's peace plan, which calls for the withdrawal of Russian troops and the restoration of Ukraine's territorial integrity. He said that in the coming days, Ukraine will coordinate with Switzerland on the date for the inaugural peace summit.
Zelenskyy said, "We expect 80-100 countries to participate in it. We believe this will be the most powerful summit."