German Patriot air defense to deploy in Poland – not Ukraine
Patriot SAM (Photo:defense.gov)
After Germany refused to transfer its Patriot air defense batteries to Ukraine, these systems will instead be deployed in Poland, Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said in a Twitter post on Dec. 6.
“After a conversation with the head of the German Ministry of Defense, I decided to withdraw support from (deploying Patriots to) Ukraine, to my disappointment,” Blaszczak wrote.
He reiterated that deploying Patriot systems in western Ukraine would have served security interests of both Warsaw and Kyiv.
“We have started work on deploying air defense in Poland and connecting it to our system,” the minister added.
Germany offered Poland Patriot systems after a missile crashed in Przewodów near the border with Ukraine during a massive Russian missile attack on the Ukrainian power grid on Nov. 15.
Earlier, Błaszczak appealed to Germany to send Patriot systems to Ukraine, instead.
German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said that Patriot systems are designed to protect NATO airspace, therefore the consent of allied countries is required to transfer them to Ukraine.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that this issue should be resolved by individual countries.
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