President calls for stronger Western air defenses, warns anti-ballistic capability is Ukraine's "major weakness"
KYIV, Ukraine — The decisive phase of Russia’s full-scale invasion has shifted from land and sea to the skies, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday, arguing that Ukraine’s ability to win the air war backed by stronger Western air defenses will determine the conflict’s ultimate outcome.
In an interview with the Financial Times published hours after another massive Russian missile and drone attack on Kyiv, Zelensky declared that Ukraine had already denied Russia victory on the ground and pushed much of its Black Sea Fleet away from the western Black Sea, leaving control of the air as the war’s defining battlefield.
“Today I believe victory in this war belongs to whoever is smarter,” Zelensky said. “If you stop the enemy on the battlefield, if you stop the war on land, and if you deny him dominance at sea — as we did with our naval drones, driving the Russian fleet away then the next battlefield becomes the sky.”
The Ukrainian leader emphasized that territorial size matters far less in aerial combat. “We have moved into the air domain. And in the air, we are already competitive,” he added.
Critical Vulnerability Remains
Despite Ukraine’s growing long-range strike capabilities, Zelensky identified one critical weakness that continues to plague his country’s defenses.
“There remains only one unknown,” he said. “Unfortunately, it is anti-ballistic defense. That is the major weakness [for Ukraine] in this equation.”
The president revealed that Patriot PAC-3 interceptor missiles have sometimes arrived “literally the day before a massive attack.” Speaking ahead of the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, Zelensky said he would urge allies not only to provide more Patriots but also to help Ukraine develop its own anti-ballistic missile capabilities.
“Europe should stop being negligent in this regard,” he said. “It should share technologies and industrial capabilities with other countries, because there will never be enough Patriots for everyone.”
Zelensky added that Ukraine has repeatedly asked Washington to approve licensed Patriot production, stating: “I have been raising this issue for years. We are waiting for a positive signal from the United States.”
Long-Range Drones Reshape Battlefield
The Ukrainian president argued that his country’s expanding fleet of long-range drones has fundamentally changed the battlefield dynamic by enabling increasingly deep strikes against Russian military and energy infrastructure.
“Our soldiers, through their sacrifice, stopped Russia on the ground,” Zelensky said. “When the front is largely static, and the enemy cannot operate freely at sea, what remains is the air.”
Zelensky confirmed that Ukraine would continue intensifying strikes against military targets in occupied Crimea, including “military bases, depots, air defense all the sites from which aircraft take off, from which we receive missile strikes and, of course, the logistics that supply and sustain everything.”
Striking at Russian Business Interests
The president argued that Ukraine’s campaign is beginning to affect Russia’s business community, potentially shifting domestic sentiment within the country.
“Russian business has begun to understand that they are not going to win this war,” Zelensky said. “They are losing both time and money, and, frankly, they will also lose hope, because many of them believed they could conquer us.”
He explained that Ukraine first targeted Russia’s energy sector and port infrastructure “where they make money from energy, and then spend it on military bases and military production.”
Trump Conversation Signals Potential Shift
Zelensky also discussed his recent conversation with US President Donald Trump, saying Trump had praised Ukraine’s long-range drone campaign. According to Zelensky, Trump told him Ukraine “is doing very well” with its deep-strike operations.
Asked whether the conversation suggested a shift in Trump’s position, Zelensky replied: “President Trump wants to be where there’s success. That’s tied to many things not only to his personality, but to the approaching elections, to his status, to his belief in how this war can be ended.”
Trump told reporters Monday that peace efforts were making progress: “We’re getting much closer than people realize. President Putin wants it to end… And President Zelensky actually wants it to end now.”
Nuclear Legacy and Security Assurances
Zelensky linked Ukraine’s current vulnerability to its decision in the 1990s to give up the world’s third-largest nuclear arsenal in exchange for security assurances from Russia and the West.
“Without nuclear weapons, you are no longer part of the club that others fear attacking,” he said. “Instead, you become part of the club that can be attacked.”
The president noted that Ukraine entered the full-scale war unprepared to counter large-scale ballistic missile attacks because Soviet-era anti-ballistic missile capabilities remained under Moscow’s control after the collapse of the USSR.
‘The Skies Will Determine the Outcome’
Despite repeated Russian missile and drone attacks, Zelensky expressed confidence that Ukraine could prevail if international military support continues.
“If our partners do not abandon Ukraine financially, if our soldiers continue holding the front, if every kilometer of Russian advance continues to cost them tens of thousands and sometimes hundreds of thousands of personnel, then the decisive struggle will take place in the skies,” he said.
“Because the skies will determine the outcome of this war.”
Targeting Moscow and Russian Elites
Zelensky said Ukraine would continue intensifying strikes on military targets inside Russia and in Russian-occupied territories, with a particular focus on reaching Russia’s political and economic centers.
According to the president, Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin was largely unconcerned by Ukraine’s long-range strike campaign until it began reaching Moscow and St. Petersburg.
“He understood that the war was far from the Kremlin,” Zelensky said. “But once he starts feeling what is happening in Moscow, he will begin to understand what is happening in the Kursk, Belgorod, and Bryansk regions.”
“When it is no longer one hundred drones but one thousand flying towards Moscow… You will see advisers urging him to relocate somewhere beyond the Urals,” Zelensky added. “That will mark a new chapter on the path to ending the war. The farther Putin is from Moscow, the closer the end of the war and the closer peace will be.”
Zelensky said the campaign is intended to pressure Russia’s political elite directly. “Where do the Russian elites live? Moscow and St. Petersburg. Those are the two main cities. That’s where the drones will fly, because that’s where the decisions to kill us are made.”
