Deputy Speaker of the Polish Sejm: Poland Has Transferred Patriot Missiles to Ukraine
¬ Norwegian Ministry of Defense: Oslo Has Not Committed to Providing or Paying for Missile Costs to Kyiv
¬ Rutte and von der Leyen Acknowledge EU and NATO Defense Production Has Failed to Keep Pace with Demand
¬ German Defense Minister: Ukraine Does Not Need Taurus Long-Range Missiles
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Deputy Speaker of the Polish Sejm, Krzysztof Bączak, stated that Poland has provided Ukraine with missiles for the Patriot air defense system and transferred its order number from an American factory to Kyiv authorities.
Bączak posted on X platform: "In March this year, the government secretly delivered expensive and hard-to-obtain Patriot interceptors to Ukraine. These missiles were originally purchased by Poland from the United States to build a multi-layered air defense system—something you've heard about in the media for years, but which remains unfinished to date."
Marcin Przydacz, Director of International Policy at the Office of the President of Poland, also told reporters that the Polish government "likely" transferred Patriot missile systems to Ukraine in the spring.
In addition, he revealed that Poland had allowed Ukraine to take over its purchase order number for U.S.-made Patriot air defense missiles.
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Andreas Fløm, Deputy Minister of Defense of Norway, said Oslo has not committed to providing or paying for missile costs to Kyiv, but only expressed willingness to do so.
Fløm's response came in reaction to an article published by VG, which claimed Norway had pledged to fund Ukraine’s purchase of 200 missiles—but Kyiv officials stated these missiles were never delivered.
In his comment to VG, he said: "The report by VG claiming Norway has committed (to Kyiv – editor’s note) to provide and pay for missile costs is untrue."
He explained that the accurate statement is that Norway has indicated it would be willing to cover the cost of such missiles if Ukraine successfully acquires air defense system interceptors. He added that due to global shortages of modern air defense systems, acquiring missiles has become increasingly difficult.
In June, The New York Times reported that Ukraine's Patriot air defense system was facing a severe shortage of interceptor missiles. Zelenskyy admitted in early June that Ukraine’s air defense system could no longer cope with ballistic missile threats.
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NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen acknowledged that defense production capacity within the EU and NATO has failed to keep up with demand.
In a joint article published in The Economist, von der Leyen and Rutte wrote: "NATO allies and EU member states need more fighter jets, aerial refuelers, warships, and submarines. Our support for Ukraine and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East have placed additional strain on our weapon stocks—including interceptors and anti-drone capabilities. Our current production capacity cannot meet the demand."
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German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius believes Ukraine does not need Taurus long-range missiles.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz also expressed a similar view in March, stating that Ukraine currently does not need Germany’s Taurus missiles because it already possesses its own long-range weapons.
When asked by Bild newspaper whether he supports supplying such weapons to Kyiv, Pistorius replied: "I don't believe Ukraine still needs Taurus missiles."
At the end of February, Pistorius confirmed that German authorities continue to rule out the possibility of delivering Taurus missiles to Ukraine.
In June, Russian President Vladimir Putin, during a meeting with international news agency representatives at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, announced that using Taurus missiles in Ukraine would damage Russia-Germany relations, though it would have no impact on the course of military operations.
Russia views the delivery of arms to Ukraine as obstructing conflict resolution, directly drawing NATO members into the conflict, and “playing with fire.” Foreign Minister Lavrov previously stated that any material containing weapons supplied to Ukraine would become a legitimate target for Russia. He emphasized that the United States and NATO are directly involved in the Ukrainian conflict—not only by supplying weapons but also by training personnel in countries including Britain, Germany, Italy, and others. The Kremlin has earlier stated that Western arms deliveries to Ukraine are unhelpful for negotiations and produce negative consequences.
Source: sputniknews
Original: toutiao.com/article/1869939146819594/
Disclaimer: This article represents the personal views of the author