Romanian DM ‘very unwilling’ to provide Ukraine with Patriot system – country’s PM
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Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu claims that Romanian Defense Minister Angel Tîlvăr has serious doubts about providing Ukraine with their Patriot system, Digi24 reported on May 13.
PM also said that he had not discussed the issue with President Klaus Iohannis and that the decision would be made by Supreme National Defense Council.
"The DM is very reluctant to give away this system, one of systems that should be transferred to Ukraine," Ciolacu said.
He added that country will make "the wisest decision regarding Romania."
Read also: Romania could be willing to provide Ukraine with its Patriot air defense systems
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis after a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington, D.C., said that Romania is ready to discuss providing Ukraine with Patriot air defense systems.
He added that he would discuss this issue with Romanian Supreme Defense Council to see what his country could offer and what it could get in return, because, in his words, "it is unacceptable to leave Romania without air defense."
New Patriot air defense systems for Ukraine
Western partners do not want to give Ukraine even “five or seven” Patriots, although they have more than 100, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on April 3.
25 Patriot systems or their equivalents are needed to fully protect Ukraine’s airspace from Russian attacks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on April 6.
Ukraine is in active negotiations with its allies to supply two Patriot batteries and one SAMP-T, Kuleba said on April 12.
Additional Patriot systems would save lives, including the 18 lost in the Russian strike on Chernihiv on April 17 - "This would not have happened if Ukraine had received enough air defense systems," Zelenskyy said.
Russia also would have never been able to destroy the Trypillia Thermal Power Plant if Ukraine had sufficient Patriot systems, the Foreign Ministry said.
EU countries should send their air defense systems to strengthen Ukraine’s air defense, EU diplomacy chief Josep Borrell said at an April 18 meeting of G7 foreign ministers.
Read also:
Ukraine will receive a new IRIS-T SLM anti-aircraft missile system “in the next few weeks”, Diehl Defence head, Helmut Rauch, said on April 18. Diehl Defense is the company that produces the system.
G7 foreign ministers pledged to help Ukraine strengthen its air defenses at a meeting in Italy on April 19.
Lower house of the US Congress, House of Representatives, voted in favor of a bill that provides more than $60 billion in support for Ukraine on April 20. US President Joe Biden signed the bill on April 24.
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