Bolder, a strategic analyst and defense expert at the Hague Center for Strategic Studies (HCSS) and a former lieutenant colonel in the Royal Netherlands Air Force, expressed this view in a comment to Ukrinform, commenting on Ukraine's growing shortage of air defense capabilities.

According to the expert, Russia is increasingly exploiting the shortage of air defense missiles to carry out massive ballistic strikes on Ukrainian cities, while delays in decisions on supplying Patriot systems are only increasing Ukraine's vulnerability.

Bolder said that the situation demonstrated how critical the shortage of air defense missiles had become and how serious the situation was when the United States failed to supply Patriot missiles to Ukraine. He stressed that Ukraine was effectively being left to fend for itself by the United States and that European countries needed to become much more actively involved in defending it. He added that this was particularly important given the missiles and drones that had entered Polish and Romanian airspace in recent days. In his view, this required a much stronger response from NATO countries.

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He added that this would not necessarily have to be a NATO mission, but could instead involve a coalition of willing states prepared to take responsibility for creating a safer airspace over western regions of Ukraine.

Bolder said that greater efforts should initially be made to establish at least some kind of security "umbrella" over western Ukraine and to declare that anything flying through that airspace that was not Ukrainian would be intercepted by coalition forces. He stressed that the coalition would not necessarily have to be NATO, but could consist of countries willing to guarantee safer airspace over western Ukraine. He suggested that the protected zone could gradually be expanded to central and then eastern Ukraine whenever missiles entered areas that coalition members had agreed to defend. In his opinion, such a response would significantly reduce the effectiveness of Russian strikes, as each new Russian attack could prompt another step toward making Ukraine increasingly safer.

The expert believes that European countries should become more actively involved in protecting Ukrainian airspace, as delays in U.S. assistance are creating an increasingly significant gap in Ukraine's air defense capabilities.

Bolder said that during the most recent meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, Trump had promised to help Ukraine establish licensed production of Patriot missiles. Bolder said he did not know which type of missile had been discussed, but argued that it would be preferable for Ukraine to produce PAC-3 missiles capable of intercepting ballistic missiles. He noted that Trump had recently effectively backed away from that promise. According to Bolder, Zelensky had already held talks with Lockheed Martin, the company that manufactures Patriot missiles, but Trump was now saying that the arrangement might not happen at all. Bolder added that Russia's response to the mere possibility of Ukraine being allowed to produce PAC-3 missiles was already apparent, as Russian forces had begun launching massive numbers of ballistic missiles at Ukraine, taking advantage of the shortage of air defense missiles.

Trump earlier said he was "not sure" whether the United States would grant Ukraine a license to produce Patriot missiles.

Photo provided by Patrick Bolder