BRUSSELS, June 14 () –
The German Defense Minister, Boris Pistorius, was optimistic this Friday about the option that the United States could deploy a Patriot battery in Ukraine, after reiterating the request to NATO allies to redouble their efforts to help Kiev. to protect their skies from Russian bombing.
“If President Joe Biden is confident and optimistic, I am too,” he said upon his arrival at the second day of NATO Defense Ministers in Brussels, when asked about the possible deployment of US anti-aircraft systems in Ukraine. .
In this sense, Pistorius has stressed that Berlin has already provided three anti-aircraft batteries since the start of the war and in April announced the transfer of a fourth. “We are not in charge of doing more, others will have to do it, so I am sure they will step forward,” he noted.
Thus, the German Defense Minister has indicated that he “expects results” from the debates he is having these days with his allied colleagues to provide Ukraine with the valuable batteries that it has been requesting for months.
Pistorius arrived at the first day of the NATO ministerial urging that allies do more to provide Ukraine with the anti-aircraft defenses it needs in the context of the Russian war of aggression, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky demanded six Patriot batteries to defend cities and key infrastructure in Ukraine.
All after US media reported in recent days that Biden has ordered to send to Ukraine one of the batteries that the United States has located in Poland. To this, the Polish Deputy Minister of Defense, Cezary Tomczyk, responded by pointing out that this system will be replaced by another, but that in no case will Warsaw agree to give up its defenses due to the strategic position they occupy.
At a press conference from Brussels, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin limited himself to saying that there will be no changes in the coverage of US anti-aircraft systems located in Poland, although he stressed that the issue of sending Patriot batteries to Ukraine is “a priority.” total” for Washington.
The scenario of moving one of these systems that the United States has deployed in Poland was seen as one of the options to quickly give up the batteries that Ukraine claims to protect its skies from Russian attacks.
Germany leads the coalition of countries that will mobilize anti-aircraft systems to Ukraine, along with Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway, and is looking for ways to deliver more Patriot missiles and systems in the short term to kyiv. This group of countries seeks to mobilize more radars, anti-aircraft systems and missiles and due to the times to produce this type of material, it emphasizes that other countries take steps and offer their systems to kyiv.
In the case of Spain, the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, has confirmed that Spain will send a second batch of interceptors in a matter of days to Ukraine to fuel the Patriot batteries, but will not give up the anti-aircraft system itself. Poland once again refused to give up its systems this Thursday and other allies such as Greece continue without making a move.
For her part, the Dutch Minister of Defense, Kajsa Ollongren, has given a message of confidence about her initiative to mobilize components and assemble a Patriot battery to deliver to Ukraine. “We have all the pieces and we have to do the puzzle, I am confident that we can do it because I have seen that there are countries that are taking steps forward,” she explained.
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