madrid
\nSpain will supply Ukraine with Patriot missiles, Defense Minister Margarita Robles confirmed on Friday, amid outside pressure to provide the weapons.
\nRobles made the announcement during a virtual meeting of the so-called Ramstein Group, which comprises Ukraine\u2019s Western backers. A statement from the Defense Ministry in Madrid added that an unspecified number of munitions for the US-made missile system will arrive in Ukraine within the next four days.
\nThe Spanish defense chief did not mention anything about deliveries of actual Patriot batteries to Ukraine. Each system consists of a phased array radar, an engagement control station, computers, power generating equipment, and up to eight missile launchers.
\nSpanish newspaper El Pais earlier reported that Madrid will supply Patriot missiles to Ukraine due to immense pressure from the EU and NATO. According to the outlet, Spain operates only three Patriot batteries and keeps a \u201cwar reserve\u201d of about 50 missiles for them.
\nDuring an address to the Ramstein Group, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky insisted that Kiev needs \u201cat least seven\u201d Patriot batteries from its Western backers to be able to repel Russian missile attacks.
\nIn late March, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said at least five Patriots operated by Ukraine had been destroyed by Moscow\u2019s forces since the start of the year. Spain is among six European nations \u2013 including Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, and Greece \u2013 that have Patriot systems in service.
\nWhile Berlin has promised to supply another Patriot system to Ukraine, taking its donated tally to three, Poland and Greece insisted earlier this week that they have no air defense systems to spare.
\nUS National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan stated on Friday that Washington is also unable to provide Kiev with more air defense systems.
\n\u201cThe US Patriot systems right now are being deployed around the world, including in the Middle East, to protect US troops,\u201d Sullivan told MSNBC.
\nRussia has warned that deliveries of foreign weapons systems to Kiev will not prevent Moscow from achieving its military goals, but will merely prolong the fighting and could increase the risk of a direct confrontation between Russia and NATO. According to officials in Moscow, the provision of arms, the sharing of intelligence, and the training of Ukrainian troops means that Western nations have already become de-facto parties to the conflict.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
madrid Spain will supply Ukraine with Patriot missiles, Defense Minister Margarita Robles confirmed on Friday, amid outside pressure to provide the weapons. Robles made the announcement during a virtual meeting of the so-called Ramstein Group, which comprises Ukraine\u2019s Western backers. A statement from the Defense Ministry in Madrid added that an unspecified number of munitions […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":403191,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-403172","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n