Poland Asks Germany to Send Patriot Missile Launchers to Ukraine

World

November 24th, 6:41am

Asharq Al-Awsat

Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak attends a meeting with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy - REUTERS

Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said on Wednesday he had asked Germany to send Patriot missile launchers offered to Poland to Ukraine. "After further Russian missile attacks, I asked Germany to have the Patriot batteries offered to Poland transferred to Ukraine and deployed at its western border," Blaszczak wrote on Twitter. "This will protect Ukraine from further deaths and blackouts and will increase security at our eastern border." On Monday Poland said it would propose deploying additional Patriot missile launchers near its border with Ukraine, following an offer from Germany, according to Reuters. Berlin offered Warsaw the Patriot missile defense system to help secure its airspace after a stray missile crashed in Poland last week. It had earlier said it would offer its eastern neighbor help in air policing with German Eurofighters. The missile that hit Poland last week, killing two people, appeared to have been fired accidentally by Ukraine's air defenses rather than to have been a Russian strike, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg has said.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/4005141/poland-asks-germany-send-patriot-missile-launchers-ukraine