Ukraine will receive more Patriot missiles from the allies against Russian aggression, now provided by the United States and Spain, but at the moment it will not receive complete new batteries of this precious type of anti-aircraft defense, beyond the one recently promised by Germany. However, the virtual meeting yesterday of allied countries on military aid to Kyiv according to the Ramstein format – named after the American base of the same name in Germany where they are held when they are held in person – ended with the commitment to send other remittances of armament.
Thus, the Secretary of Defense of the United States, Lloyd Austin, host of the meeting, announced at a press conference from Washington the execution of a new round of US aid for Ukraine worth 6 billion dollars (5.6 billion euros), in the form of vehicles, precision munitions, anti-drone systems and Patriot and NASAMS anti-aircraft missiles.
This is the second US round announced this week, after the $1 billion (€935 million) round that was announced on Wednesday. Both amounts are part of the $61 billion (57 billion euros) aid package approved this week in Congress after months of blocking by Republican Party parliamentarians, and which the president, Joe Biden, has already enacted.
Air defense is key for Ukraine right now. In a video at the beginning of the meeting, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky assured attendees that, to protect Ukrainian cities, his country “urgently needs at least seven batteries” to launch Patriot anti-aircraft interceptor missiles, this type. “This is what can and should save lives right now,” he said.
For now, however, there was no promise to supply Ukraine with new Patriot batteries, except for the one promised in mid-April by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, which will be the third donated by Germany. Finally, Spain will send long-range Patriot anti-aircraft interceptor missiles, as confirmed yesterday by the Ministry of Defense. The Spanish Government's plans were never to send a complete battery like the one it has deployed on the border between Turkey and Syria for a decade.
Pressure from NATO and the EU has not managed to get Spain to send the complete Patriot battery – that is, including the launcher – but it has relented with the supply of “a set of missiles.” Greece, the other country pressured by the Atlantic Alliance, said no. “We have explained why we cannot do it; “They are critical systems for the protection of Greek airspace,” Greek Prime Minister Kyrios Mitsotakis told Greek channel Skai TV. European capitals with Patriot generally resist.
It was the 21st regular meeting of the Ramstein format, and at a press conference in Washington, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said that “if Ukraine succumbs under Putin's boot, Europe will fall under his shadow; That is why we are determined to deter Russia from any new aggression, including against NATO allies.” 24 countries were represented. For Spain, the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, and Admiral Juan Francisco Martínez Núñez, Secretary General of Defense Policy, participated by videoconference from Madrid.
