Washington could announce a decision as soon as Thursday on providing the Patriot, two officials told Reuters on Tuesday. The Patriot is considered one of the most advanced US air defence systems and is usually in short supply, with allies around the world vying for it.

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has warned Nato against equipping Kyiv with Patriot missile defences. The Kremlin said on Wednesday that Patriots would be a legitimate target for Russian strikes against Ukraine, should the United States authorise them to be delivered to support Kyiv.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said they would “definitely” be a target for Russia, but that he would not comment on unconfirmed media reports.

With the war in its 10th month, the Patriot system would help Ukraine defend against waves of Russian missile and drone attacks that have pounded the country’s energy infrastructure.

The General Staff of Ukraine’s armed forces morning report on Wednesday highlighted the need for air defence systems throughout the country.

It said in the past 24 hours in Kharkiv, Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions “the enemy launched 1 air and 11 missile strikes, 3 of them on the civilian infrastructure...(and) launched more than 60 attacks from multiple rocket launchers”.

Gaining Patriot air defence capability would be “very, very significant” for the Kyiv government, said Alexander Vindman, a retired US Army lieutenant colonel and one-time leader of Ukraine policy at the White House.

“These are going to be quite capable of dealing with a lot of different challenges the Ukrainians have, especially if the Russians bring in short-range ballistic missiles” from Iran.

The Pentagon declined to comment. There was no immediate comment from Ukrainian officials.

A European diplomat, who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations, said sending Patriots would be a welcome move but added that Ukraine still needs tanks and longer-range rocket systems for major counteroffensives.

02:50

Donetsk residents yearn for reprieve as Russian attacks leave millions of Ukrainians in the dark

Donetsk residents yearn for reprieve as Russian attacks leave millions of Ukrainians in the dark

Kyiv held high-level military talks on Tuesday with Washington, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office said. The United States has given Ukraine US$19.3 billion in military assistance since Russia’s invasion on February 24.

One of the US officials said Ukrainian forces would likely be trained in Germany before the Patriot equipment was delivered. Vindman said the training could take several months.

While dozens of personnel are assigned to a battery, only three are required to operate it in combat.

The Pentagon says Russia’s recent surge in missile strikes is partly designed to exhaust Ukraine’s supplies of air defences so it can dominate the skies above the country.

For that reason, the United States and its allies have been delivering more air defences to Kyiv, everything from Soviet-era systems to more modern, Western ones.

Washington has provided NASAMS air defence systems that the Pentagon says have flawlessly intercepted Russian missiles in Ukraine.

Millions of civilians who are enduring Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II have had to contend with cuts to power, heat and water as harsh winter conditions take hold.

In Paris on Tuesday, about 70 countries and institutions pledged just over €1 billion (US$1.05 billion) to help maintain Ukraine’s water, food, energy, health and transport in face of Russia’s attacks, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said.

Ukraine’s Sergey Kovalenko, the head of the YASNO power company, said on Facebook that repairs continued on the electric grid but that the capital Kyiv still only had two-thirds of the power it needed.

In a video speech to the New Zealand parliament on Wednesday, Zelensky said the environmental harm from Russia’s war will affect millions of people for years.

Russian attacks have contaminated the country’s oceans and 3 million hectares (7.4 million acres) of forest, he said.

“Dozens of rivers are polluted, hundreds of coal mines are flooded, dozens of the most dangerous enterprises, including chemical ones have been destroyed by Russian strikes,” he said.

“All this … will have a direct impact on millions of people,” he added, referring to leaks of hazardous chemicals and contamination from mines and munitions.

“You cannot rebuild the destroyed nature, just as you cannot restore the destroyed lives,” Zelensky added.

In eastern Ukraine, Russian and Ukrainian forces pounded each other around the small city of Bakhmut on Tuesday.

Invading Russian forces have fought to seize Bakhmut for months as part of a grinding battle for control of the Donetsk region, one of the four territories the Kremlin claims to have annexed in votes rejected by most countries as illegal.

There are no peace talks under way to end the conflict, which Moscow describes as a “special military operation” against security threats posed by its neighbour. Ukraine and its Western allies call it an unprovoked, imperialist land grab.

Russia on Tuesday dismissed a peace proposal from Zelensky that would involve a pull-out of Russian troops and demanded that his government accept Russia’s annexations.

Additional reporting by Bloomberg and Associated Press