Spain’s defense minister confirms delivery of Patriot missiles to Ukraine. Madrid has three Patriot arrays, one of which is stationed in Turkey as part of NATO.
Margarita Robles, Spain’s defense minister, confirmed that her country will deliver missiles for Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine.
Earlier, the Spanish newspaper “El Pais” had revealed that Madrid decided to supply Kiev with surface-to-air missiles for Patriot systems, but without launchers or radars.
Robles confirmed the report in a teleconference of the Contact Group on the Defense of Ukraine, the Spanish Defense Ministry said. The briefing notes that Robles did not specify whether or not Spain would deliver Patriot radars and launchers.
Spain has three Patriot arrays, one of which is stationed in Turkey as part of NATO’s deployment of forces to deter missile attacks from Syria.
The Spanish defense minister also underlined Madrid’s unwavering support for Kiev, assuring that it will continue to support the Ukrainian army in its fight against the Russian invaders. In this context, will deliver additional Leopard tanks, which are currently being repaired. The first batch is estimated to be deployed in Ukraine by the end of June.
Efforts are also being made to deliver machine guns, armored vehicles, anti-tank weapons and artillery shells, Robles said.
Ukraine has repeatedly requested Patriot systems to repel Russian attacks. On April 22, the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, urged EU member states to send air defense systems to Ukraine. Afterwards, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also made a similar appeal to NATO allies.
