Biden okays transfer of second Patriot anti-aircraft missile system to Ukraine – NYT

US  President Joe Biden decided to transfer the second Patriot air defense system to Ukraine, reported journalists from The New York Times and Associated Press, citing unnamed American officials.

According to NYT sources, this system is supposed to arrive in Ukraine from Poland, where it protects rotational forces of American troops returning to the United States, officials said.

Journalists note that Biden made this decision after a series of debates last week, in response to Ukraine's request for additional air defense systems. Administration officials hope the deployment of another U.S. Patriot system will prompt allies to do the same, the outlets added.

This will be the second Patriot air defense system that the United States will transfer to Ukraine.

On June 11, 2024, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that "in the coming weeks and months" he would transfer to Ukraine the third Patriot air defense system, IRIS-T, Gepard, missiles, and ammunition.

Previously, Berlin had already provided Ukraine with two Patriot systems, and in mid-April 2024, the German Ministry of Defense reported that they would "immediately" provide another complex, making it the third.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that he hopes that the allies will hand over two or three Patriots to Ukraine in the near future.