USA, Israel negotiating supply of up to eight Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine – media
The United States, Israel and Ukraine are negotiating the supply of up to eight Patriot air defense systems to Kyiv, but the agreement has not yet been finalized, the Financial Times reports, citing sources familiar with the negotiations.
It is noted that most likely, Patriot systems will first be shipped from Israel to the United States, and then delivered to Ukraine.
According to five people with knowledge of the negotiations, the deal was discussed by ministers and senior officials of the three countries.
At the same time, despite discussions about the transfer of all eight air defense systems to Ukraine, not all of them may eventually be sent to Kyiv.
Sources said that in recent weeks, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba held talks on the issue with his American counterpart Antony Blinken.
"Ukraine continues to work with various countries around the world to obtain additional Patriot systems," Kuleba told the Financial Times, but did not confirm the fact of negotiations. He added that Ukraine calls on all countries that have such systems to provide them.
In addition, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan had at least two conversations about the Patriot transfer with the head of the President’s Office of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak.
A person familiar with diplomacy said that in addition to negotiations between the United States and Ukraine, there were also direct negotiations between Israel and Kyiv on the transfer of Patriot air defense systems.
The U.S. and Ukrainian governments declined to comment.