Germany announced that it would soon send five Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine in coordination with the United States.
It was unclear if the systems would be provided from Germany’s own stockpile, News.Az reports citing foreign media.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, ahead of Monday’s Ukrainian Defense Contact Group (UDCG) “Ramstein” meeting, said Berlin had reached an agreement with the US to send five Patriots to Ukraine.
“During my trip to Washington last week, I agreed with [US Defense Secretary] Pete Hegseth that Germany would contribute to the rapid provision of five much-needed Patriot systems,” Pistorius said, as reported by the Ukrainian “European Pravda” news outlet.
Pistorius added that Berlin would work with its partners in the upcoming days “in a spirit of mutual trust” to finalize the details of the transfer.
Kyiv has appealed for Patriot systems for months as Moscow ramped up its aerial assaults – including a record strike consisting of more than 700 drones in a single day earlier this month.
Prior to the statement, London announced that it would unveil a plan to procure air defense munitions for Kyiv alongside Berlin using €170 million ($198 million) of funding from Berlin.
Previously, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Ukraine would be receiving an unspecified number of Patriot systems in the coming weeks.
“At this hour, the defense ministries are discussing the details of how we can ensure the appropriate delivery of Patriot[s] to Ukraine in a short time. This could take weeks. The negotiations are very specific, the American side is ready to do this, but we do not have a result yet,” Merz told Ukrinform at the time.
Berlin was initially skeptical of the drive as it said that German stocks of the system were insufficient for its own defense.
On the day when US President Donald Trump promised more American-made Patriot air defense missiles for Ukraine, Germany recanted on promises to do the same, saying they “don’t have enough.”
At the time, Pistorius said Germany originally had 12 Patriot batteries, three of which have already been sent to Kyiv. Two others have been leased to Poland, and one or more is undergoing maintenance.
The time it needed to manufacture a Patriot battery, coupled with its high demand, has led to shortages in the market.
On July 17, Swiss officials said the United States diverted already-purchased Patriots from Bern to Kyiv as part of the White House’s renewed effort to boost Ukraine’s defensive capabilities.
As such, it is likely that Berlin would be sending its own Patriots in return for the same system – or its equivalent – from other nations to free up the much-desired air defense system for Kyiv.
