Poland is unable to provide Ukraine with Patriot, but will help with other weapons – Tusk

Poland has no reserves to provide Ukraine with the Patriot system, but promises to help with other means to strengthen its air defense

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk made the statement, Ukrinform reports.

According to him, Poland "does not have the ability" to transfer Patriot to Ukraine.

Tusk noted that the Patriot battery, which is located near Rzeszow, from where Western aid comes to Ukraine, does not belong to Poland, but is at the disposal of the US Army.

"In short, we do not have Patriot batteries in reserve, and everyone understands this. Together with Kyiv, everyone knows that we have fulfilled our task to the letter when it comes to supporting Ukraine, including with equipment and air defense," the Polish prime minister said.

At the same time, Tusk noted, "there are also other types of weapons that help Ukraine defend its skies, and here Poland will continue to be active."

He did not specify what kind of weapon it was.

Earlier, on November 21, 2022, Germany offered Poland an additional Patriot system to protect against potential missile attacks.  Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Błaszczak said that he asked Germany to send Patriot to Ukraine instead. As a result, the system was left in Poland, and in November 2023, Germany began the process of returning it.

• On April 19, the Group of Seven countries announced their intention to strengthen Ukraine's air defense following a meeting in Cyprus. At the same time, the North Atlantic Alliance members pledged to provide Ukraine with more air defense systems.
• On April 21, the German government announced that it was already negotiating with other countries on new air defense commitments for Ukraine.
• On Sunday, April 21, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, during a meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, announced that Norway would join the IAAD initiative to provide Ukraine with air defense systems.
• The Financial Times wrote that the EU and NATO are putting strong pressure on Greece and Spain to provide Ukraine with air defense systems.
• Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson said that the country has four Patriot air defense systems, but they can neither promise nor rule out the possibility of providing them to Ukraine.
• Scholz's government is pressuring the US to supply Ukraine with at least one more Patriot missile defense system.
• Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that Ukraine is currently negotiating with the United States and other partners to transfer four Patriot air defense systems.