Romania is open to discussing the possibility of providing Ukraine with Patriot air defense systems.

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis shared this with reporters in Washington after a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden.

There has been a discussion about who can send Patriot systems to Ukraine over the last few weeks, Iohannis noted.

“President Biden mentioned it … in our meeting and I said I was open to discussion. I must discuss it with the Supreme Defence Council to see what we can offer and what we can get in return because it is unacceptable to leave Romania without air defenses,” Iohannis stated.

Romania signed a $4 billion deal to get Patriots in 2017, the NATO and EU state’s biggest procurement contract to date, with the first shipment delivered in 2020.

Of the seven Patriot PAC-3+ batteries, four are intended for the Romanian Air Force.

Three are also intended for the state’s land forces.

Although Romania only has one battery in operation, Iohannis said the discussions concerned another nearly operational battery.

The White House said Biden thanked Romania for its commitment to security in NATO’s east, including in the Black Sea region, and applauded its defense investments, which exceed NATO’s target of spending at least 2% of GDP.

Romania, a NATO member since 2004, shares a 650-km border with Ukraine and has had Russian drone fragments stray into its territory repeatedly as Russia attacks Ukrainian ports on the Danube River.

Following requests by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, EU governments last month called for more air defense systems to be provided to Kyiv.

As previously reported, Romania will also produce SkyCeptor interceptor missiles for the Patriot air defense system.