Germany’s foreign minister calls for swift retrieval of Patriot defense systems to aid Ukraine

Partners should try to locate more air defense systems, both domestically and internationally, and quickly send them to Ukraine.

According to Ukrinform, the German Minister of Foreign Affairs, Annalena Baerbock, stated this at a press conference with her Moldovan colleague.

"I clearly said at the meeting of the heads of foreign affairs of NATO last week in Brussels … that we must 'map' all Patriot systems in Europe and around the world and do everything possible to deliver these systems to Ukraine," Baerbock said, recalling that Germany has become a country that takes care of the issue of helping Ukraine in protecting the sky [Germany leads the air defense coalition in the "Ramstein" format – ed.].

Unfortunately, she added, Germany's stock of Patriot systems is "quite depleted." Therefore, Berlin, together with its partners in Ukraine, the EU, and NATO allies, should work out the issue, considering also the possibility of transferring systems by third countries as soon as possible.

^{Photo: Ukrinform}

The German Foreign Ministry's leader anticipates that more details may be revealed at the upcoming gathering of the G7 foreign affairs offices. When discussing air defense, Baerbock mentioned Kharkiv, a city she personally visited. She is aware that due to its proximity to the border, it is nearly impossible to shield oneself from bombings without time to seek shelter. She remarked that it is evident to all that "Putin is blatantly and deliberately aiming to devastate, destroy and annihilate Kharkiv."

"If Russia starts its large-scale offensive there, it will lead to incredible suffering," the diplomat said.

Regarding Moldova, she stated that Putin has been waging a war against Ukraine and a hybrid war against other countries from the very beginning and is using all possible means for this. Moldova is very vulnerable, so Germany helps it, in particular, by political and economic means and on the way to EU membership.

For reference:

• On April 4 in Brussels, during the meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Council at the headquarters of the North Atlantic Alliance, Germany initiated the search for available Patriot air defense systems for Ukraine's armed forces.

• On April 4, in Brussels, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken discussed expediting the delivery of extra Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems to Kyiv due to heightened Russian airstrikes.
• As Rubryka wrote, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and Great Britain, Dmytro Kuleba and David Cameron, coordinated the following steps to search for and deliver additional air defense systems.