NATO is considering providing Ukraine with Patriot air defense systems — Stoltenberg
The Alliance confirms readiness to provide Ukraine with further military assistance, particularly modern air defense systems, including Patriot. Still, while discussions about these systems continue, NATO is focusing on supplying ammunition and spare parts for the modern air defense systems that Ukraine has already received.
This was stated by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg today in Bucharest at a press conference during the first day of work of the NATO Council meeting, Ukrinform reports.
"This (discussions with Ukraine – ed.) is partly about providing new systems, such as the Patriot, around which discussions are ongoing. But it is also about ensuring that the systems that have already been delivered are functional and effective. We have to be sure that we can supply the spare parts so that they (Ukrainians – ed.) can keep these systems operational and also have ammunition for them. This is one of the biggest challenges we face today," Stoltenberg noted.
He reminded that NATO allies have already provided Ukraine with the most advanced systems, such as the Norwegian NASAMS or the German IRIS-T. These systems demonstrate high results, as evidenced by the effectiveness of Ukraine's defense during russian missile attacks and drone attacks. Currently, it is very important to provide these systems with ammunition and spare parts for their maintenance and repair.
"That is why we need to meet here with Minister Kuleba so that we can discuss the immediate needs together as we have done before at the bilateral level and respond to specific requests that Ukraine sends to NATO allies. This dialogue has already allowed us to get assistance from NATO allies to an unprecedented level, both in terms of the types of weapons and the amount of such assistance. It is important that we can consider the entire list of requests, as we do in NATO and the Ramstein format," Stoltenberg stated.
He confirmed that the Allies are currently considering the possibility of providing Ukraine with a wide range of additional air defense systems, but at the same time, they are taking immediate measures to ensure that the already provided systems of such weapons work as expected.
