MOSCOW, April 12 Ukrainian authorities are negotiating with allies about providing the Ukrainian Armed Forces with two batteries of the Patriot air defense system and one SAMP/T, a decision on supplies has not yet been reached, it completely depends on the United States, says Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba.
“All Patriot batteries ultimately depend on the decision of the United States, because this is an American system. We know exactly where and what is located. Active negotiations are already underway on two Patriot batteries and one SAMP/T battery. And, in principle, if If the countries where they are located were now ready to transfer them to us, then it would be a matter of a week, and we would receive them,” Kuleba said in an interview with host Alla Mazur, an excerpt from which was shown by the 1+1 TV channel.
The day before, Vladimir Zelensky said that Ukraine will continue to lose people and territories if its partners do not provide assistance to Kyiv. The Financial Times, citing two unnamed sources, reported that Ukrainian authorities are pushing Poland, Romania and Spain to transfer Patriot air defense systems to Kyiv.
On April 10, Kuleba said that his “good” diplomacy did not work, and now he plans to strictly demand the Patriot air defense system from the West, while he considers the most “lucky” to be those Western colleagues in whose countries there are no such systems because they don’t have to feel uncomfortable when meeting with him.
Russia believes that arms supplies to Ukraine interfere with the settlement, directly involve NATO countries in the conflict and are “playing with fire.” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted that any cargo that contains weapons for Ukraine will become a legitimate target for Russia. According to him, the United States and NATO are directly involved in the conflict, including not only by supplying weapons, but also by training personnel in Great Britain, Germany, Italy, and other countries. The Kremlin stated that pumping Ukraine up with weapons from the West does not contribute to negotiations and will have a negative effect.