NATO mulling transfer of Patriot systems to Ukraine - Stoltenberg

NATO allies reaffirm their readiness to provide Ukraine with further military assistance, in particular modern air defense systems, including Patriot systems, but while discussions about these systems are ongoing, NATO is focusing on the supply of ammunition and spare parts for advanced air defense systems that Ukraine has already received.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said this at a press conference during the first day of work of the North Atlantic Council in Bucharest on Tuesday, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"This [discussion with Ukraine] is partly about providing new systems, like, for instance, the Patriots, and there is an ongoing discussion about that now. But it is also very much about ensuring that the systems that we have already delivered are functioning and effective. And to do so, we need to ensure that we provide spare parts, enabling them [the Ukrainians] to do maintenance of the systems, and also ammunition. This is a huge challenges that we face now," Stoltenberg said.

He recalled that NATO allies had already provided Ukraine with the most advanced systems, such as the Norwegian NASAMS or the German IRIS-T. These systems demonstrate high results, as evidenced by the effectiveness of Ukraine's defense during Russian missile attacks and drone attacks. Currently, it is very important to provide these systems with ammunition, as well as spare parts for their maintenance and repair.