Germany will temporarily be unable to deliver more Patriot systems to Ukraine, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said. According to him, the country has already handed over several air defense systems and guided missiles to Kyiv, but further deliveries are ruled out for the time being.
“Anything we give now, we will temporarily be unable to replace, and that would create shortfalls here that we cannot take responsibility for,” Pistorius said in an interview with Berliner Morgenpost. He summed up his position by saying: “We cannot provide more at the moment.”
The German minister said that other countries must now take on a larger share of providing air defense for Ukraine. The issue will be discussed by the Ukraine Contact Group in mid-November.
Berlin warns of shortages of its own equipment
Pistorius’s position means that Germany does not view new Patriot deliveries as possible in the short term, since the systems currently available cannot be quickly replaced. The minister warned that sending additional systems would leave gaps in Germany’s air defenses.
Berlin has already provided Ukraine with part of its own air defense capabilities, while Kyiv continues to rely on Western systems to protect cities and infrastructure from Russian air strikes. The published information does not specify the exact number of Patriot systems and missiles delivered by Germany.
Pistorius: Russia is making no progress on the ground
In the same interview, the German minister said that Russian forces were making no progress on the ground, despite the expected Russian air attacks during the winter. According to him, the Russian army continues to suffer “extremely high losses” - between 30,000 and 40,000 servicemen per month. These figures were presented as Pistorius’s assessment, rather than independently verified statistics.
The minister also expressed doubts that Donald Trump’s diplomatic efforts would quickly lead to peace. In his view, reaching an agreement depends on Vladimir Putin’s position and on U.S. policy. Pistorius described negotiations held without Kyiv’s participation as unacceptable and said that Ukraine’s sovereignty must be preserved.
He added that Europe cannot guarantee peace on its own if it is not involved in the negotiating process. The next specific forum at which the need for new air defense systems will be discussed is the meeting of the Ukraine Contact Group in mid-November.
Sources: focus.de