A decision to send two U.S.-made Patriot air defence systems to Kyiv is likely within a matter of days or weeks, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said in Washington yesterday following talks with U.S. Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth.
Germany has offered to buy the U.S. Patriot units in order to supply them to Ukraine, which has been hit by some of the heaviest Russian attacks of the war over the past few weeks.
Pistorius said the talks would continue at the working level as details such as the number of launchers and missiles to be included in the agreement are determined. Once the deal is agreed, the first Patriot unit could be sent to Ukraine within months, he said. However, the defence minister declined to indicate whether supplying Kyiv with offensive weapons had been discussed.
Already, Germany has sent three of its own Patriot units to Kyiv, leaving it with nine systems compared to the 36 Patriot batteries it had at the height of the Cold War.
Amidst European concerns about the possibility of a future attack from Russia and in anticipation of cutbacks in the U.S. military presence, Germany has adjusted constitutional restrictions to enable it to reach NATO’s new core military spending target of 3.5% of national output by 2029. Berlin’s defence spending is expected to reach 162 billion euros in 2029.
According to Pistorius, Berlin also approached Washington about purchasing U.S. Typhon missile launchers but any decision to place an order would come later. The system offered a “stop-gap solution” while the U.K. and other European partners develop their own land-based long-range weapons, a process that could take “seven-to-ten years”.
Pistorius was unable to clarify whether Washington remains committed to temporarily deploying long-range missiles to Germany from next year, as had been agreed under the Biden administration. He said he was confident that the deal “is still valid” but noted that a final decision was awaited. Deployment – still under review — would include systems like the Tomahawk cruise missiles (range 1,800 km) and the developmental hypersonic Dark Eagle (range 3,000 km. approx.)
Another issue was the possibility of cuts in Europe where around 80,000 U.S. soldiers serve, including some 40,000 in Germany. European allies want Washington’s assurance that any drawdown will not leave NATO members vulnerable to Russian aggression. According to Pistorius, Hegseth had agreed to a coordinated and transparent approach should the U.S. actually pull troops from the continent.
