Vitaly Sayenko17:25, 13.06.24
This also applies to the Patriot system, which is located in Poland.
The United States of America will not transfer an additional Patriot anti-aircraft missile system to Ukraine at this time . According to the UNIAN correspondent, US Defense Minister Lloyd Austin said this at a press conference after the meeting of the Contact Group on Defense of Ukraine (“Ramstein-23”), which took place in Brussels at the NATO headquarters.
In particular, he was asked whether the US will send an additional Patriot system to Ukraine, given that Germany has announced another Patriot and Italy another SAMP/T system.
The US Secretary of Defense stated that the issue of air defense has been at the top of the agenda for a long time.
He said that for months he has been emphasizing the importance of providing Ukraine with additional air defense equipment.
According to him, the USA has already transferred one Patriot to Ukraine. At the same time, President Joe Biden, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and he devote a lot of time to encouraging other countries to provide Ukraine with additional opportunities.
“It’s not just about Patriot, it’s about NASAMS, SAMP/T and the set of capabilities that Ukraine needs. And it needs interceptors to complement the platforms. I don’t have any announcements today about Patriot batteries, but I can tell you that I continue to work on it,” Austin emphasized.
He added that he maintains constant contact with Ukrainian colleagues.
“We’re going to do everything we can to make sure they get the opportunities they need,” Austin said.
The US Secretary of Defense emphasized that work on air defense is being done on a daily basis. At the same time, he did not confirm information in the media about the relocation of the Patriot system from Poland to Ukraine.
“I will tell you that there will be no change in Poland regarding the coverage of the Patriot (airspace – UNIAN),” Austin said.
Separately, he stated that the Netherlands is leading a “smart initiative” to collect and supply the Patriot system to Ukraine. In particular, the Dutch government has committed to providing many key components from its own stockpile and is calling on other countries to help with the remaining components.
The US Secretary of Defense also confirmed that Italy will transfer the second SAMP/T system to Ukraine.
(c)UNIAN 2024
No comment.
How pathetic can a superpower, sitting on a stockpile of “1,106 Patriot launchers” (Wikipedia), be, really? Biden and Sullivan expect other Nato nations, most of which only have 3 or 4 batteries for self defence, to donate generously to Ukraine, while the mighty US themselves “lead by example” and delivered one lousy battery, all of 8 launchers? I actually don’t think this was Lloyd Austin’s decision, who as a retired general probably has more empathy with the AFU, but he should be ashamed of having to tell this bullshit. If I was him, I would resign in protest. Status and income aren’t worth sinking to such embarassing lows. 😖
Amen to that.
This pathetic taking back of the previous announcement (does Team Biden know no shame, really?) may be related to this news, just a few hours before:
“Poland opposes transfer of Patriot system deployed on its territory to Ukraine”
https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2024/06/13/7460590/
Can you believe it? The mind boggles, really. 😖
The Poles are right. Let the United States send Patriots instead!
It would only take a bit longer, making a battery in the US ready for shipment across the Atlantic. But Team Biden’s stance seems to be to not send even a single launcher from their own country, but simply to hand over the one in Poland now to Ukraine. As if Patriot launchers were scarce in the US, which have the largest arsenal of all countries, by far! This stingyness makes zero sense to me. I can only conclude that most probably, Joe Biden ain’t a friend of Ukraine (maybe because of the Hunter/Burisma affair) and only reluctantly supports the country, purely because of political reasons. ☹
Joe Biden has been a supporter of Ukraine for many years. And why would the Hunter/Burisma affair change his attitude about Ukraine? His son got a good gig, being on the board of Burisma. It’s not the fault of Ukraine that dishonest Republicans tried to smear Hunter and Joe.
Remember – Joe Biden is an intelligent man. He’s not an idiot like trumpkov, who blames Ukraine for his getting impeached, even though it was his own dishonest actions that got him impeached.
😠😤🤬
“He added that he maintains constant contact with Ukrainian colleagues.”
That certainly will stop the roach missiles from hitting schools, hospitals, and apartment buildings. The Biden administration is the worst one in the history of the United States.