Germany and US near final agreement on Patriot systems for Ukraine – Bloomberg

Germany and the United States are working out final details of a deal to supply Patriot air defence systems to Ukraine.

Source: Bloomberg with reference to its sources, as reported by European Pravda

Details: German and US officials involved in the talks are finalising the remaining aspects of the agreement on providing additional Patriot systems to Ukraine, including the timeframe for replacing the transferred weapons, sources told Bloomberg on condition of anonymity.

Under the agreement, Germany will provide Ukraine with two Patriot systems from its own stocks and will receive replacements from US industrial reserves.

The agreement could be officially announced as early as this week.

Germany has already sent three of its twelve systems to Ukraine and another two are currently deployed in Poland, so Berlin is seeking guarantees that these will be promptly replaced from the United States.

Another sign that the deal could soon be finalised is the fact that the US recently notified Switzerland that the Patriot systems it had ordered will be delivered later than planned.

The sources said the systems intended for Switzerland have a slightly different configuration, and it will take about eight months to reconfigure them. German and US negotiators are expected to discuss this issue further this week.

Background: 

• German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius announced at the start of the 29th meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group (also known as the Ramstein format) that Germany and the US have reached an agreement to provide Ukraine with five Patriot systems. 
• Ukrainian Defence Minister Denys Shmyhal urged partners at the Ramstein meeting to urgently procure Patriot systems and PAC-3 missiles for Ukraine from the US.

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