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White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Wednesday that the issue of air defense of Ukraine will be discussed when U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin visits the Ukraine Contact Group later this week.
“I’m not aware of any assessment of a specific number of of Patriot batteries that are required by Ukraine,” Kirby said. “What we are aware of is that air defense remains a priority.”
Kirby also reacted to a helicopter crash in suburban Kyiv that killed Ukraine’s interior minister and other government officials. The helicopter crashed into a kindergarten, killing Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskyi and about a dozen other people, including a child on the ground.
Kirby called the crash “heartbreaking.
