Polish Patriot can't be transferred to Ukraine: former defense minister explains why

He said this in an interview with Antin Borkovskyi, host of the Studio West program.

"First of all, it should be said that Polish-Ukrainian military cooperation has its own history. I myself am responsible for part of this history. Back when I was Vice Minister of Defence in 1999-2000, and later when I became Minister of Defence, I believed that there is no secure Poland without an independent Ukraine. And this opinion is supported by a significant number of the Polish political elite. And since 1991, it has been steadily implemented. And especially now, during the war, both the first war and the second war of Russia against Ukraine," Bogdan Klich said.

According to him, that is why Poland is one of the main donors when it comes to military support for Ukraine, meaning support with military equipment and ammunition. And this has been the case since the first days after February 24, 2022.

"Poland supports all the actions of those countries that deploy anti-aircraft weapons aimed at the needs of Ukraine. We ourselves supplied some of our air defence weapons to Ukraine when we still had more in stock. The question about Polish Patriots is a misleading one, because unfortunately we only have two Patriot batteries. We don't have any more. In this regard, we cannot afford to open our skies. But the Americans deployed in Poland have several batteries, so the protection of one American battery, as announced by President Biden, will be significant for Ukraine. Those who have such advanced systems, I mean our NATO allies and the West, should also supply their air and missile defence systems," the former Polish Defence Minister concluded.

• On June 20, it became known that Romania would transfer the Patriot air defence system to Ukraine. The decision was made at a meeting of the country's Defence Council.
• On June 21, Dutch Defence Minister Kajsa Ollongren announced the transfer of the Patriot air defence system to Ukraine.