Reuters reported that Ukraine's pro-Ukrainian Western allies are reportedly pushing for a plan to provide additional patriot air defense systems to Kiev, in the hope of reaching a consensus before the NATO summit in late June.
An unnamed US source said that in addition to Washington, some countries that are likely to transfer more patriots to Ukraine are Germany and Greece. However, the Greek government later denied the possibility of participating in the plan, saying there was no transfer of patriot to Kiev.
According to Reuters, for Greece, patriot air defense systems are strategic weapons, playing an important role in protecting airspace from potential threats, especially from Turkey - a neighbor with many long-standing disagreements with Greece.
Therefore, despite providing Ukraine with many types of heavy equipment and ammunition, Greece is still cautious about not including patriot in the aid list, partly due to limited quantity, partly to ensure that it does not affect its core defense capabilities.
Data from the International Strategic Research Institute (IISS) shows that there are about 186 patriot systems operating globally. The US owns about a third and has deployed many systems to strategic regions to protect allies in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
Dozens of systems have been deployed to the Indian Ocean and Pacific regions and the US has recently sent at least one cluster to the Middle East to provide defense assistance to Israel. European countries currently have about 40 systems, of which Germany and Greece alone hold a total of about 15.
Germany has not yet commented on the plan.
Meanwhile, according to some sources collected by the New York Times, Washington is planning to transfer the patriot system located in Israel to Ukraine, expected to be completed this summer. This system was renovated before handover.
Recent efforts around patriot stemmed from a call from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last month to ask for more aid from allies or allow Kiev to purchase 10 air defense systems. This is an essential weapon in intercepting Russian ballistic missiles.
Defense Express military analysts said that as of April this year, Ukraine had 7 patriot systems operating stably out of a total of 8 systems it currently owns.
If it receives another combination from Israel and another system from Germany or Greece, if the plan is implemented, Ukraine will have a total of 10 systems and will mainly deploy to protect the capital Kiev.
patriot is produced in the US, so Washington must approve all transfers of the system to Ukraine, even if supplied through third countries, including allies in Europe.
Because of their scarce nature, these systems are often carefully weighted based on the priority of conflict hotspots, according to Kyiv Independent.
