Volodymyr Zelensky keeps asking for it. NATO countries have agreed to send Ukraine more anti-aircraft defense systems, including Patriot batteries, Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced this Friday. A breath of hope for Ukraine.
“NATO has checked existing capabilities within the Alliance and there are systems that can be made available to Ukraine. I therefore expect new announcements on air defense systems soon,” declared Jens Stoltenberg, following a meeting between NATO defense ministers and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is held by videoconference.
No formal commitment
“In addition to the Patriot, there are other weapon systems that the Allies can provide, including SAMP-Ts”, surface-to-air missiles of Franco-Italian manufacture, Jens Stoltenberg further affirmed. “I am not going to give precise figures (…) but we are working with the allies to ensure that they make the right decisions to provide new Patriot batteries,” he stressed.
However, no formal commitment was given during this meeting, a NATO diplomat told AFP. Ukraine is insistently demanding the sending by its allies of anti-aircraft defense systems, including Patriot batteries, the most effective against Russian hypersonic missiles, which have been hitting Ukrainian cities and infrastructure for weeks.
60 billion dollars soon to be released?
Germany announced at the end of last week its intention to provide an additional Patriot battery to Ukraine, after two others already sent by Berlin. Jens Stoltenberg thanked Germany and indicated that allied countries without air defense systems “are committed to providing financial assistance to purchase them from Ukraine.”
The United States, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Greece, Romania and Poland have Patriot batteries, according to diplomatic sources in Brussels. American aid of more than $60 billion, blocked in Congress for weeks due to reluctance by Republican elected officials favorable to former President Donald Trump, could finally be adopted on Saturday.