Volodymyr Zelensky believes that if the United States transfers tanks to Ukraine, then European allies will also begin to transfer their tanks to Ukrainian forces.

The President of Ukraine said this in an interview with CBS News.

He was asked what the Ukrainian army needed now for a successful counteroffensive.

Zelensky first named HIMARS and other rocket systems. Second, artillery and tanks.

“I think if we get tanks from the US, European allies will also help us to de-occupy Ukrainian cities with tanks,” he said.

The President asked not to trust the Russian narratives that the tanks would be transferred to Ukraine in order to shoot on the territory of Russia.

“That’s not true. Even if we wanted it. Our job is to protect our territory. We don’t need a foreign country, we don’t need a foreign nation. We want to protect our land and save our people,” Zelensky said.

According to him, air defense systems is a number three in Ukraine’s needs.

“We absolutely need the United States to show leadership and give Ukraine the air defense systems. I want to thank President Biden for a positive decision that has been already made. And to the US Congress, we received NASAMS,” the President said.

However, the Ukrainian President stressed that the quantity of these systems will not be enough to protect civilian infrastructure, schools, hospitals, universities, and the Ukrainians’ homes from the Russian strikes.

“We need security to attract our Ukrainians to return home. If it is safe, they will come, settle, work here and pay taxes, then we will not have a deficit of $5 billion in our budget. This will be positive for everyone,” the head of state explained.

Recall that in the second half of August, the United States announced a new package of military assistance to Ukraine that includes NASAMS systems that will be able to strengthen Ukraine’s air defense system.