Poland has offered to jointly produce Patriot missiles with Ukraine and the United States, Polish Deputy Defense Minister Magdalena Sobkowiak-Czarnecka said late last night during a visit to Washington, adding that this would help overcome security concerns, Reuters reported, BTA reported.
US President Donald Trump said during the NATO summit in Ankara this month that Washington would grant Ukraine a license to produce Patriot missiles - a huge boost for Kiev, which has long sought permission to produce the defensive weapons.
At the time, two sources told Reuters that the new interceptor missiles would likely be manufactured in Germany or another European country to avoid becoming a target in any possible Russian strikes on Ukraine.
Yesterday, Sobkowiak-Czarnecka said Poland had offered to cooperate with Kiev and Washington to ensure that production would take place in a safe location.
"The proposal that I presented today on behalf of Poland responds to some of the concerns expressed by the American side," she told reporters. "We proposed trilateral cooperation - involving the United States, Ukraine and Poland - because the priority is to guarantee the production process and ensure that it takes place in a safe place," the Polish deputy defense minister added.
The United States also said in Ankara that it would establish a European service center for Lockheed Martin's high-tech PAK-3 missiles. (Lockheed Martin), used in the Patriot air defense systems.
Sobkowiak-Czarnecka said she had also presented arguments in favor of placing the facility on Polish territory.
Poland has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine's military efforts since Russia invaded the country in 2022, but relations between the neighboring countries have been strained over disputes over historical issues.
Tensions reached a peak last month when Polish President Karol Nawrotski stripped Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of Poland's highest state award, the "Order of the White Eagle," after Zelensky sparked outrage in late May by awarding the honorary title "Heroes of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA)" to of the Independent Special Operations Center "North" to the Special Operations Forces of Ukraine. The title is a reference to the UPA fighters, whom Kiev honors for their resistance to Soviet rule after World War II. During the war, however, the UPA was accused of being responsible for the mass murders of thousands of Poles and Jews in the territory of present-day Western Ukraine and parts of Eastern Poland.