Allies seek deal on more Patriots for Kyiv before Nato summit

BERLIN: Ukraine’s Western allies are in discussions about supplying additional Patriot air defence systems to Kyiv and aim to reach an agreement before a Nato summit at the end of June, a source familiar with the matter said on Monday.

Ukraine is increasingly desperate to get more Patriots, with President Volodymyr Zelensky telling CBS news last month his government was ready to buy 10 of the US-made air defence systems that are vital for shooting down Russian ballistic missiles.

According to Ukrainian Defence Express military analysts, as of April this year, Ukraine had seven fully operational Patriot systems. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the US and Greece were among potential suppliers of the additional systems.

Two US sources familiar with the matter said the effort to provide more Patriots to Ukraine was a programme approved under former president Joe Biden, a Democrat, which President Donald Trump, a Republican, had not halted.

Athens later ruled out its involvement in the plan. “There is no question of supplying Ukraine with Patriot systems from Greece,” a government official told Reuters. Defence is a sensitive issue for Greece due to long-standing disputes with its neighbour and Nato ally Turkiye.

Athens, which has previously sent thousands of rockets, explosives, infantry-fighting vehicles, or IFVs, high explosive incendiaries, ammunition and anti-tank rockets to Ukraine, reiterated last year that it could not provide the country with Patriots.

Quoting US officials, the New York Times reported on Sunday that Washington was planning to send a Patriot system that was based in Israel to Ukraine after it is refurbished. It added that allies were talking about “the logistics of Germany or Greece” giving another one.