German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius officially confirmed that Berlin will supply Ukraine with two Patriot air defense systems after reaching an agreement with the United States that Germany will be first in line to receive new systems instead of the ones transferred.
Points of attention
- Ukraine originally requested five Patriot systems from Germany, but there is a need for ten or more to meet the country's defense requirements.
- The accelerated pace of transferring new Patriot systems to Germany will support Ukraine's air defense capabilities in the ongoing conflict.
Germany announced the provision of Patriot to Ukraine
According to Boris Pistorius, thanks to the commitments of official Washington, his country has the opportunity to first transfer launchers to Ukraine, and then additional components of the Patriot system.
He also officially confirmed that the Bundeswehr will first deliver additional Patriot launchers to Ukraine in the coming days, and then, in two to three months, will transfer other elements of the system.
In addition, it is noted that Berlin will receive new Patriot systems from the United States at an accelerated pace.
As mentioned earlier, on July 14, US leader Donald Trump officially announced that the United States would no longer provide weapons to Ukraine for free — now European countries and Canada will pay for their purchase.
According to the Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, the issue of the number of Patriot air defense systems that Berlin can provide to Kyiv has been discussed for quite a long time and in detail.
"We first asked the Germans to buy two systems for us in the United States. After the meeting in Ramstein, it was publicly announced that the partners were trying to find five systems. However, in reality we need ten or more," stressed Alexey Makeyev.
