US suspends all supplies under Patriot contracts to Europe and redirects them to Ukraine – FT
The US government plans to suspend all open orders for Patriot air defense systems and interceptor missiles until Ukraine receives enough to defend against Russian air attacks, reported Financial Times with reference to three sources familiar with the matter.
The people said the announcement would be made on Thursday, after President Joe Biden stated last week in Italy that he had secured a commitment to supply additional air defense systems to Ukraine. They will include Patriot missile batteries.
Biden said that five countries have agreed to send Patriot and other air defense systems to Ukraine and that other countries expecting the delivery of American systems will have to wait because "everything we have is going to go to Ukraine until their needs are met".
Washington's statement on Thursday will cement Biden's commitment to Kyiv and guarantee that Ukraine will receive the Patriot systems needed to protect its cities and critical infrastructure, the newspaper's sources said.
A number of countries, including Poland, Romania and Germany, have open orders for Patriot systems that have yet to be delivered. Spain also has an open order for Patriot launchers, and the NATO coalition placed an order for 1,000 Patriot missiles in January.
The United States said on Wednesday that it will not be able to deliver Patriot air defense missiles to Switzerland in the expected time frame, because it is giving priority to new supplies to Ukraine.
On June 11, 2024, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that he hoped that the allies would hand over two or three more Patriots to Ukraine in the near future.
On June 12, the Netherlands decided to transfer to Ukraine a radar station and three launchers for Patriot air defense systems.
On June 13, the German defense minister said that the country will not be able to supply Ukraine with more than the three promised Patriot air defense systems as the state does not have the capacity to transfer a larger number.
