Germany has publicly drawn the attention of its NATO allies Spain and Greece for not donating their Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine, reports The Telegraph.
Kiev has said it needs at least seven batteries of US-made surface-to-air missiles to protect its cities from Russia’s intensifying long-range bombing campaign.
“Many countries have Patriot systems or comparable systems,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said in a televised appearance late Tuesday.
He added: “Let’s say if a country that has, say, six Patriot systems or four and it’s not on the front line to the east, it can easily surrender a Patriot system.”
Asked by the presenter to confirm whether he was referring to Spain and Greece, Pistorius said: “We are talking to them right now. Honestly, I can’t understand.”
Madrid has a Patriot battery deployed in Turkey, where it has been stationed since 2013 to defend against missile attacks from Syria.
The focus has fallen on the two capitals because NATO officials want to keep the Patriot systems in Romania and Poland because of their proximity to the Russian border.
