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The US is seeking to send another Patriot battery along with radars in addition to the one it sent in 2022.
That’s according to Bloomberg.
On May 14, Volodymyr Zelenskyy told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that only Kharkiv and Kharkiv Oblast need 2 Patriot batteries. The American leader, in turn, showed he understands how crucial Patriot air defense systems are for Ukrainians.
“Patriots and other sophisticated air defenses – they do more than protect soldiers and save civilian lives. They create umbrellas of safety under which Ukrainian workers and entrepreneurs can adapt, innovate, build, and attract more foreign investment,” Blinken pointed out.
In April, Kyiv asked for at least seven additional air defense systems. Since then, only Germany promised to send 1 Patriot battery, and Spain has delivered Patriot missiles as it refused to provide the actual battery. Greece was among the countries that could send 1 system to Ukraine but also abstained from the delivery.
“I feel myself hitting the wall with my own head, although I’m a diplomat, and that means I have to dismantle the wall brick by brick. But since this kind of diplomacy doesn’t work, I feel like hitting the wall. I just don’t understand why it’s not happening,” Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba commented on the barren efforts to get more Patriots for Ukraine in a comment for the Washington Post.
Patriots are considered to be highly expensive and difficult to maintain.
Read also: Romanian Minister of Defence reluctant to provide Patriots to Ukraine — Romanian PM
