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- Spain is sending a limited number of Patriot missiles to Ukraine, El Pais reported.
- It will stop short of sending launchers for the system, however.
- It follows Ukraine’s urgent plea to NATO for more air defense systems.
Spain will send a small number of Patriot missiles to Ukraine as pressure builds from NATO and EU allies to increase aid to the country, Spanish newspaper El Pais reported, citing unnamed government sources.
“The transfer of a small number of missiles has come after the defense ministry refused to hand over to Ukraine the battery it has had deployed since 2013 on the Turkish-Syrian border,” the report said.
“It will be a very limited number, as the Spanish war reserve is around 50 units, and interceptors are very expensive,” it added.
The Spanish Ministry of Defense did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
It comes after German defense minister Boris Pistorius hit out at Spain and Greece for not having sent their Patriot systems to Ukraine.
“Let’s say if a country has, for instance, six Patriot systems or four and is not in the front line to the east, it can easily hand over a Patriot system,” he said in a TV appearance earlier this week, The Telegraph reported.
When pressed as to whether this was aimed at Spain and Greece, he added: “We’re talking to them right now. I honestly can’t understand.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made an urgent plea to NATO states earlier this month, saying that Ukraine needed “seven more Patriots or similar air defense systems” to defend its cities from Russian strikes.
“Putin must be brought down to earth, and our sky must become safe again,” Zelenskyy said. “It depends fully on your choice… (the) choice whether we are indeed allies.”
On April 21, Zelenskyy added on X: “‘Patriots’ can only be called air defense systems if they work and save lives rather than standing immobile somewhere in storage bases.”
Spain has decided not to send any of its launchers for the Patriot system to Ukraine, however, the El Pais report said.
It currently has three Patriot systems, all purchased from Germany in 2004 and 2014, the report added.
The news comes as Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said that Greece would not be able to offer air defense systems such as the Patriot or the Soviet-developed S-300 to Ukraine.
“Greece has supported Ukraine in various ways, including defense means,” he said.
“However, from the very beginning, we stated that we cannot give out defense systems that are crucial for our deterrence capabilities,” he added.
Germany pledged to deliver one of its Patriot systems to Ukraine following a phone call between German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Zelenskyy in April in which the Ukrainian President described “the massive Russian air attacks on the civilian energy infrastructure.”
“We stand unwaveringly by Ukraine’s side,” Scholz wrote in a post on X announcing the move.
