Germany Says It Has Exhausted Its Capacity to Supply Patriot Systems to Ukraine

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius has said his country has exhausted its ability to supply Ukraine with Patriot air defence systems for now. He made the remarks in an interview with the German newspaper Berliner Morgenpost, which were quoted by the German news magazine Focus. Such systems are central to Ukraine's air defence as it defends itself against Russian attacks, so Berlin's position means other countries will have to cover further deliveries.

What the minister said

Pistorius noted that Germany has already handed over several Patriot systems and a certain number of missiles for them. According to him, anything Germany provided now would be replenished only in due course, which would create gaps in its own defence that it could not justify. He said that supplying anything more is currently impossible.

The minister stressed that other countries must now take on a greater share of the burden. The matter is expected to be discussed in mid-November within the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, also known as the Ramstein format.

Earlier appeals

Previously, Ukrainian Defence Minister Yevhenii Khmara urged the E5 countries – Germany, the UK, France, Poland and Italy – to consider sending 10% of their stockpiles of interceptor missiles for Patriot and IRIS-T systems to Ukraine, in exchange for future deliveries that Kyiv expects.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that this year Ukraine is receiving an average of only 12 Patriot missiles per month.