US President Donald Trump said earlier that he was ready to supply more air defense systems to Ukraine, but the EU would have to foot the bill
Germany has only six US-made Patriot air defense systems available, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has told the Financial Times. The official added that Berlin could no longer deplete its own stocks to arm Kiev.
While Ukraine has received a number of Patriot units since its conflict with Russia escalated in February of 2022, Vladimir Zelensky has been increasingly urging his Western backers to provide more recently.
In an interview with the FT published on Sunday, Pistorius said that “we only have six left in Germany,” revealing that two of the country’s Patriot units had been lent to Poland, while another was unavailable due to maintenance or training.
“That’s really too few, especially considering the NATO capability goals we have to meet. We definitely can’t give any more,” the German defense minister stressed.
Speaking to reporters on Sunday evening, US President Donald Trump indicated his readiness to supply several Patriots to Ukraine. However, he stopped short of saying whether he was talking about entire air-defense systems or just the missiles for them.
“But the European Union is paying for them. We are not paying anything for them… This will be a business for us,” Trump emphasized.
The comment came shortly after the Pentagon reversed its decision to cut some of its military aid for Kiev.
The US president has recently toughened his rhetoric toward his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, accusing him of being unwilling to end the hostilities.
Commenting on the Patriot system, valued at around $1 billion per battery, Trump said earlier this month that “it’s a shame that we have to spend so much money” on supporting Ukraine.
The Russian military claims to have destroyed some of the Western-supplied Patriot air defense systems during the course of the conflict.
Moscow has consistently stressed that no amount of Western military aid to Ukraine can change the course of the conflict but only serves to prolong the bloodshed and escalate the hostilities.
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