Germany has sent all its available air defense capabilities to Ukraine, including missiles for the “Patriot“ systems, and calls on its partners to take a more active role in supporting Ukrainian air defense, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadeful said in an interview with German public radio “Deutschlandfunk“, quoted by Ukrinform, BTA reported.
“We simply don't have any more. What remains in terms of air defense missiles, for example for the “Patriot“ systems, is produced in America. Frankly, everything that is currently coming off the assembly lines goes straight to Ukraine,“ he said in response to a question about the delays in supplies of air defense missiles to Ukraine.
The minister stressed that this mechanism is mainly financed by European countries and Germany provides the main part of the financing of the aid received by Ukraine.
“The delays are not due to Germany. We provided everything we had“, said Vaddeful.
He also called on other European countries to more actively review their air defense assets and increase their contribution to support Ukraine. Vaddeful recalled that German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius had previously called on partners to assess their available resources and accelerate transfers.
According to Vaddeful, Europe must demonstrate unity and take more responsibility - both in the field of defense capabilities and technological development, including artificial intelligence, and in strengthening competitiveness.
The minister stressed that Germany's support for Ukraine is justified because Ukraine "also defends our freedom."
Pistorius recently announced that Germany is ready to transfer five Patriot missiles to Ukraine if the partner countries collectively provide a total of 30 such missiles, and stressed that the need to strengthen air defense is "a matter of days, not weeks," Ukrinform recalls.