Germany and the United States have reached an agreement to provide Ukraine with five more Patriot air defense missile systems.
This was announced by German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius during a meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine’s Defense in the Ramstein format, hromadske reports.
According to the minister, the priority is to strengthen Ukraine’s air defense. Pistorius noted that Germany will provide additional air defense systems and necessary ammunition.
“In addition, I agreed with Pete Hagseth during my visit to Washington last week that Germany will contribute to the delivery of five much-needed Patriot systems as soon as possible,” Pistorius said.
According to the German defense minister, the details of the deliveries will be agreed with partners in the coming days.
As a reminder, on July 21, a regular meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine’s Defense in the Ramstein format was held, this time online. For the first time, the newly appointed Minister of Defense of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal took part in the meeting.
The meeting is attended by representatives of 52 countries, including NATO member states, the European Union and other partners. The United States is represented by Secretary of Defense Pete Hagel and U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker. Ukraine was represented by Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal and National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov, who officially introduced Shmyhal to the partners as the new head of the defense ministry. The meeting took place against the backdrop of US President Donald Trump’s statements about the supply of weapons to Ukraine, which will be purchased by European allies.
Earlier it was reported that US President Donald Trump said that NATO allies are preparing a batch of weapons worth billions of dollars for Ukraine, including up to 17 Patriot systems. Subsequently, Supreme Allied Commander Europe Alexus Grinkewicz confirmed that preparations are underway for the rapid transfer of additional systems.