At the same time, the representative of the Cabinet of Ministers, Christiane Hoffman, recalled that Berlin is already helping Kiev with IRIS-T air defense and Gepard anti-aircraft self-propelled gunsBERLIN, November 25.
/tass/. The German authorities are discussing with their allies Poland's proposal to deploy Patriot missile defense systems promised to Warsaw in western Ukraine, but such a step would be, from Berlin's point of view, a completely new phenomenon regarding Kiev's support. This was announced on Friday at a briefing by the representative of the Cabinet of Ministers of Germany Christiane Hoffman.
"It was important for the German government to support Poland in ensuring the security of its NATO ally. Of course, we have taken note of the Polish reaction to this proposal," she said. "The question of how to proceed with the initiative of Poland, we are discussing now with our allies," said Hoffman.
"This [the deployment of Patriot in Ukraine] would actually be something completely new," she admitted, answering the question whether the German government excludes the transfer of such missile defense systems to Kiev. The representative of the Cabinet of Ministers recalled that Germany is already helping Ukraine with IRIS-T air defense and Gepard anti-aircraft self-propelled guns.
In turn, the representative of the German Defense Ministry, David Helmbold, noted that the department "is closely following the discussion on this issue that is being conducted in Poland." "Then a decision will be made on how to proceed," he said. "But Patriot is a permanent part of NATO's integrated air defense system," Helmbold added.
Berlin for a collegial decision
On Thursday, Der Spiegel magazine reported that German Defense Minister Kristine Lambrecht rejected the request of her Polish counterpart Mariusz Blaszczak to place the Patriot missile defense systems promised to Warsaw not in Poland, but in western Ukraine. The German authorities have repeatedly said that they are not going to send weapons to Kiev without close consultations with partners. Such decisions can only be made collectively, it was noted in Berlin.
On November 15, a rocket fell in the village of Przevodow (Lublin Voivodeship), located in eastern Poland on the border with Ukraine, killing two people. Polish President Andrzej Duda said that, according to the assessment of the authorities of the republic, the ammunition belonged to the Ukrainian air defense forces. In Warsaw, the incident is considered an accident. The US State Department said that the US administration is fully confident in the accuracy of the conclusions of the Polish authorities. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the missile was fired from the S-300 air defense system of Ukraine.
Lambrecht told the Rheinische Post on Monday that Germany was offering Poland security support, including with Patriot batteries. Blaszczak then wrote on Twitter that Warsaw had given a positive response. Then he offered to transfer the systems to Ukraine and place them on the western border of that country.
