Ukraine negotiated with Poland on air protection of gas storage facilities near the town of Stryi in Lviv region, but was refused and also did not provide aircraft for Ukraine to do this on its own, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

"NATO countries are afraid to make a decision and be left alone with this decision. For example, we have good neighborly relations with Poland - the people of Poland supported us and so on ... We were constantly asking them to shoot down missiles that were heading towards Poland. We have Stryi there, we have gas storage facilities there. The country depends on this gas supply, our life, especially in winter. We simply asked to protect Stryi. We do not have the appropriate number of systems to protect gas storage facilities ... Do the Poles shoot them down? No, they don’t. The Poles said that they are ready to shoot them down if they are not alone in this decision again, if NATO supports them," Zelenskyy said during a meeting with the leaders of territorial communities and districts of Zakarpattia.

After that, according to him, when Ukraine asked Poland to provide it with aircraft to shoot down Russian missiles on its own, it also received a refusal. "When they decided not to shoot down these missiles with the MiGs that they have in Poland, we asked them to tell us then, they will be stationed somewhere in western Ukraine, and they will shoot them down," the head of the Ukrainian state said.

Zelenskyy said that after this he agreed with the NATO Secretary General, then Jens Stoltenberg, that Poland would receive a so-called police mission. "A police mission is NATO aircraft. We really wanted to get MiGs from Poland, but they could not give us their MiGs because they did not have enough of their own, so we agreed with NATO that they would provide them with a police mission. That is, like our Baltic friends - they do not have their own aircraft, they have a mission that protects their skies. We agreed on this, and what happened after that, did Poland give us the aircraft? No, it didn’t. Was there another reason? Yes, it was. Did other countries unite around Poland and say: yes, we are neighbors, we will shoot down with aircraft and we will shoot down air defense? No, they didn’t," he said.

The head of the Ukrainian state noted that "there are many details, not all of which can be discussed publicly."

At the same time, he emphasized that the aircraft of allied countries took to the skies and shot down missiles over Israel when the United States wanted it. "I think this is the answer," Zelenskyy said.