US President Donald Trump has announced that Ukraine will soon receive the patriot missile defense system, within the framework of the plan proposed by him and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. However, the implementation of this plan is facing many questions from European allies and US officials.
According to Mr. Trump, European countries will donate patriots and buy replacement equipment from the US. However, this statement is just an idea framework, not accompanied by a detailed plan. US and European officials are still negotiating which country will provide the patriot system and when it will be handed over.
At the meeting with Mr. Trump, Mr. Rutte listed 6 NATO countries ready to join: Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands and Canada. However, representatives of the two countries on the list said they only knew the plan when Mr. Trump made it public. Some European officials said that even the implementation details within the US government were unclear.
A NATO official said the alliance would coordinate the delivery of weapons to Ukraine. Several countries have pledged to join, including Germany, Norway, Sweden, the UK, Canada and Finland. A high-level meeting to find more patriots could take place next week, chaired by NATO's top military commander.
The US government has also suggested that it could send more weapons to attack Ukraine if the plan goes smoothly, although Trump has stressed that Ukraine should not attack Moscow. Mr. Kurt Volker, former US ambassador to NATO, commented that Mr. Trump's plan is to reconcile support for Ukraine with the viewpoint of " Europe must pay more" that he raised during the election.
Ukraine is expected to receive 12-13 patriot systems, but the handover process could take up to a year. Some European countries are considered potential candidates to supply patriots such as Germany, Greece, the Netherlands and Spain, due to large quantities or no direct threats. However, Greece and Spain have rejected the request due to national security concerns.
Trump has said that one country owns up to 17 patriot systems and will transfer some of them to Ukraine. This statement confused NATO countries because apart from the US, no country has such a large number. Some speculation suggests that he only mentioned individual patriot components, such as launchers or missiles.
In Brussels, the Danish Foreign Minister affirmed his readiness to participate in supporting Ukraine. Meanwhile, Ms. Kaja Kallas - EU foreign representative - expressed her dissatisfaction when the US received the merits of the aid funded by Europe.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius confirmed that he is negotiating with the US about sending patriot to Ukraine, but does not expect the system to arrive in Kiev before the end of the summer.
