Poland’s defense minister has suggested that Germany transfer to Ukraine the Patriot air defense system it gave to Warsaw after a deadly missile hit Poland last week.
“After the new Russian missile attacks, I asked the German side that the Patriot batteries offered to Poland be transferred to Ukraine and installed on the western borders,” Mariusz Blaszczak said on Twitter on Wednesday evening.
“This will protect Ukraine from further losses and power outages, and will enhance security on our eastern border,” he added.
On Monday, the German government offered Warsaw to supply it with a Patriot air defense system, after a missile explosion killed two people in the Polish village of Przyodo, near the Ukrainian border.
Warsaw and NATO said the explosion was likely caused by a Ukrainian air defense missile, but that Moscow was ultimately responsible for sparking the conflict.
Initially, the Polish Minister of Defense welcomed the German proposal “with satisfaction” and indicated that he would propose that the system be stationed near the border with Ukraine.
German Patriot anti-aircraft units are already deployed to Slovakia. Berlin intends to keep them there “until the end of 2023 and maybe even later,” according to German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht.
