Germany 'ready to provide missiles for Patriots,' Zelensky says

Germany is 'ready to provide' additional supplies of Patriot interceptors to Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sept. 8. "These are exactly the kinds of decisions that bring peace closer: when you reduce the aggressor's ability to destroy lives," Zelensky said in a post on social media. No timescale was given for the arrival of the additional interceptors. Ukraine relies on the American-made Patriot PAC-3 air defense system for its defense against Russian ballistic missiles, which Moscow has been increasingly using to pound Ukrainian cities. Ukraine's stocks have dwindled as supplies have been diverted to the Persian Gulf due to the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. Ukraine's new Defense Minister Yevheniy Khmara urged Ukraine's foreign partners to secure funding for additional Patriot interceptors before winter at the Sept. 8 meeting of the Ramstein Ukraine Defense Contact Group. "To ensure Ukraine's resilience, we need solutions in the field of air defense," Khmara said. "We are concluding contracts for the supply of about 1,000 missiles for Patriot systems with our partners and through an EU loan," he said. Khmara noted that long lead times for the manufacture of Patriot interceptors meant such missiles "will be supplied only in the coming years, so Ukraine is asking partners to provide missiles from their stocks today." The announcement of the additional German support came after Kyiv suffered another overnight Russian drone and missile assault. Five people were killed in the Ukrainian capital and 25 were injured. An additional £100 million package of British support was also announced on Sept. 8, with the funding also being directed toward additional Patriot interceptors.