Germany should decide whether to transfer the Patriot air defense system to Ukraine on its own – Stoltenberg

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has commented on Poland’s idea to transfer German Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine.

He believes that Germany should solve this issue on its own and does not need consultations with NATO member countries.

He said this while answering journalists’ questions, DW reports.

“Specific decisions regarding specific systems are national decisions,” Stoltenberg said.

He also answered questions about whether the alliance risked becoming a party to the conflict if it sent Patriot systems to Ukraine. The NATO Secretary General emphasized that the Allies were already providing modern weapons, but they were training the Ukrainian military to use them outside of Ukraine.

As previously reported, the Minister of Defense of Poland, Mariusz Błaszczak, called on Germany to hand over the Patriot air defense system to Ukraine.

“After the new Russian missile attacks, I turned to Germany to transfer the Patriot batteries proposed by Poland to Ukraine and install them on the western border. This will protect Ukraine from further casualties and blackouts and increase security on our eastern border,” Błaszczak wrote.

Germany reacted to this proposal cautiously.

Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said that the possibility of using NATO defense systems outside the territory of member countries, in particular in Ukraine, should be coordinated with other member states of the alliance. According to her, this is due to the fact that the Patriot air defense system is part of NATO’s integrated air defense.

“Proposals that deviate from this need to be discussed now with NATO and our allies,” Lambercht noted.

On November 21, Germany offered Poland help: to place Patriot air defense systems on the Polish-Ukrainian border. Berlin decided to take such a step after the missile landed in the territory of Poland.