Spain will not transfer Patriot to Ukraine: what they promise in return

The Spaniards will not give Ukraine the Patriot, only missiles for it/Collage 24 Channel (illustrative photo)

The Spanish Ministry of Defense, even under pressure from NATO and the European Union, refuses to provide Patriot air defense systems. The department explained why they do not want to transfer their complex to Ukraine.

NATO and the European Union require European countries that have Patriot air defense systems to allocate a certain number of them for Ukraine. But the Spanish Ministry of Defense claims that this is the only means that can effectively protect their country in the event of a missile attack.

Reasons refusal of the Spaniards

As reported by the Ministry of Defense, the complex, which they refuse to hand over, was deployed back in 2013 on the border of Turkey and Syria. Instead, they agreed to transfer a certain number of missiles for the anti-aircraft system.

The Spanish Ministry of Defense claims that its armed forces lack certain types of weapons, including missile defense systems. Moreover, the Patriot system has proven its high effectiveness in the event of a missile attack in the war in Ukraine and the Middle East. In fact, this is the only means that can reliably protect against a missile attack.

Spain has three fully equipped Patriot systems, which consist of launchers, radars and control posts. They were purchased in Germany back in 2004 and 2014. However, the Spaniards have a very limited number of missiles for these systems in their reserve, about 50 pieces, because they are very expensive. Therefore, the batch of interceptor missiles that they agreed to transfer to Ukraine will be very limited.

How Ukraine “assembles” Patriot complexes around the world

• Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba told how many Patriot systems Ukraine could potentially attract. As of now, Ukraine has four Patriot batteries “on the radar.” In particular, Dmitry Kuleba hopes for Patriot systems from the United States – at least “one spare.”
• Greece will transfer its Patriot Pac 3 anti-aircraft missile system to Ukraine with “guarantees” from the United States . This weapon is one of two systems that are deployed in Athens.
• Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said that Poland cannot transfer Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine, since it itself only has two batteries available. At the same time, in his opinion, the countries of Western Europe could help in protecting the Ukrainian sky.
• Observer of the Information Resistance group Alexander Kovalenko also told 24 Channel, what other air defense systems besides Patriot, IRIS-T, NASAMS would help protect the Ukrainian sky.