Spain to supply Ukraine missiles for Patriot — El Pais

El Pais reported the information, citing its sources.

Spain has agreed to supply Ukraine with Patriot missiles despite pressure from NATO and the EU for European countries that have this American-made system to deliver it to Kyiv to strengthen its air defense against Russian attacks.

Government sources said that the decision to provide a small number of missiles came after the Spanish Defense Ministry refused to supply to Ukraine a Patriot battery deployed since 2013 on the border of Turkey and Syria.

The Spanish army has three batteries, each with their own missile launchers, radar and control station, purchased from Germany in 2004 and 2014. One of these batteries is located in Adana, Turkey, and the other two are at the Marine Corps base in Valencia, and one of them is used to train Ukrainian and Spanish soldiers in the use of the system.

The Spanish Ministry of Defense has categorically refused to supply the systems to Ukraine, claiming that they are the only effective systems in the event of a missile attack, which "was demonstrated during the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East," and that the Spanish armed forces are "insufficiently equipped."

However, according to the sources, the government agreed to provide a batch of Patriot missiles as compensation. This will be a very limited number, as the Spanish military reserve is about 50 units, and the interceptors are very expensive, with each unit costing more than a million euros.

• Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba suggested that the United States probably has a Patriot system that could be provided to Ukraine.