Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said in a tweet that he spoke on Tuesday with his German counterpart Christine Lambrecht and “I accept with disappointment her decision to refuse to support Ukraine.”
He added, “The installation of Patriot missiles in western Ukraine would have enhanced the security of Poles and Ukrainians at the same time. From here, we are making practical decisions about where to install the batteries in Poland and link them to our command system.”
On November 21, Germany offered Poland to provide it with Patriot missiles to install these American-made batteries in its eastern border regions with Ukraine.
The German offer comes after two people were killed in a Polish village near the Ukrainian border by a missile that Warsaw and NATO said were fired by Ukrainian air defenses to counter Russian air strikes.
Initially, the Polish Minister of Defense received the German offer positively, before changing his mind and proposing to Berlin to provide Ukraine with this defense system.
Germany responded to the Polish minister’s proposal by saying that this issue should be discussed within the framework of NATO, but NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the decision is up to Berlin.
NATO countries have so far sent billions of dollars worth of weapons to Ukraine, including modern air defense systems.
The United States and other countries in the alliance have so far avoided providing Ukraine with “Patriot” batteries, which are an essential tool for the alliance’s air defenses in its eastern wing.
Washington previously deployed Patriot missiles in Poland, while Berlin deployed them in Slovakia.
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