The United States, Israel and Ukraine have begun discussing the issue of supplying 8 Israeli Patriot air defense systems to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
The British newspaper Financial Times learned about such a dialogue between the named countries and told its readers, noting that this was told by unnamed sources.
They claim that the plans provide for the initial shipment of the specified air defense systems to the States, and after that they will have to be delivered to Ukraine.
What “patriots” want to give to Kyiv
As I have read the TASS publication, the potential deal has not yet been finalized.
The author of the article draws attention to: if the issue is resolved positively, this will mean a change in Tel Aviv’s position on its relations with Russia.
He recalls: back in April, Israel announced its intention to decommission 8 Patriot units from among those that it had been operating for more than three decades.
Tel Aviv wants to replace this military equipment with new air defense systems.
However, those air defense systems that Israel is currently using in the confrontation with Hamas have not yet been withdrawn from service due to the threat of a possible war with Hezbollah, the article says.
What is known about Israeli missiles
According to FT, today the Ukrainian Armed Forces have at least 4 Patriot systems supplied by the USA and Germany.
The Israeli “patriots” that can be handed over to the States for sending to Ukraine are older than those that the Ukrainian Armed Forces have, but are compatible with them.
In addition, the newspaper writes, Tel Aviv has a sufficient number of interceptor missiles necessary for the transferred air defense systems.
It is noted that the old Israeli interceptor missiles are capable of hitting targets at a greater distance compared to the missiles of the newer “patriots”.
Kuleba’s statement
The publication quotes the words of Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba that his country continues to work with different countries of the world in order to obtain “additional Patriot complexes.”
However, he did not want to confirm or deny information about negotiations between Kyiv, Washington and Tel Aviv on this issue.
At the same time, the newspaper’s sources say that the Ukrainian side discussed supplies of Israeli “patriots” with American officials, including the head of the State Department, and with Israeli officials.
Previously, Scholz said that NATO will not become part of the conflict in Ukraine.
