**NATO to Help Ukraine with Air Defenses, but No Surplus Available**
NATO countries will do their best to provide Ukraine with air defenses to protect its infrastructure. However, there is no extra supply of such systems available, according to Secretary General Mark Rutte.
“We don‘t have an overflow of air defense systems in the world,” Rutte said on December 4. “So we always have to prioritize.” He was speaking at a meeting in Brussels where Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha asked for at least 20 air defense systems, like NASAMS, HAWK, and IRIS-T.
Ukraine needs these systems to protect its critical infrastructure from Russian aerial strikes and prevent blackouts. The secretary general said that NATO countries will provide whatever they can to Ukraine, but did not give a specific number.
**Slow Delivery of Air Defenses**
Ukraine has previously complained that NATO allies are slow in delivering air defenses promised during a July summit in Washington. Kyiv received a Patriot system from Romania in October and was promised two additional IRIS-T systems from Germany by the end of the year.
Air defenses will be crucial for Ukraine as it braces for fresh Russian missile and drone strikes, which may be the harshest winter of the war yet.
**Russia and Belarus Plan Joint Training Centers**
Russia and Belarus are planning to set up three joint training centers to train soldiers together. This was announced by Gennady Lepeshko, a senior official in Belarus’s security and defense department.
**Ukraine Loses 29 Russian Drones Overnight**
Ukrainian air defenses shot down 29 out of 50 Russian drones overnight, according to the Air Force. Eighteen drones were lost, and one flew into occupied territories.
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