Pistorius: Germany cannot give Ukraine more Patriots for now – what he asks of the other allies

Germany no longer has room to send Ukraine more Patriot air-defence systems from Bundeswehr stocks, at least for now. Defence Minister Boris Pistorius made this clear in an interview with Berliner Morgenpost, published on Saturday, November 7.

The Social Democrat minister’s argument is the defence of Germany itself. Berlin, he recalled, has already handed over several Patriot systems and a large number of missiles. “Whatever we give now will not be replenished for the time being, and that would open gaps for us that we cannot take responsibility for,” he said. And he condensed his position into one sentence: “At the moment nothing more is possible.”

Pistorius shifts the burden to the other allies. In his view, other NATO partners must now contribute more, since some states have so far given noticeably less than Germany. The issue, he said, must be raised at the next meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group in mid-November. Kyiv has already opened the discussion, asking allies to swap the Patriot missiles in their stores for new ones Ukraine has ordered.

The refusal came on the day Ukraine was counting the damage from the previous night’s massive Russian attack. On the night to Saturday Russia fired 36 ballistic missiles and 172 drones, aimed mainly at Kyiv and its region. Volodymyr Zelensky wrote that only four of the missiles were neutralised and that there is a serious shortage of missiles for Patriot systems, which mainly the United States can cover. He added that Kyiv is looking at every level for ways to speed up deliveries. We covered the damage in the capital in our report on the Northern Bridge and Kyiv’s power supply.

Patriots are among the few systems in Ukraine’s arsenal that can counter ballistic missiles such as the Iskander-M and the North Korean KN-23. That is why the battle for every missile and every battery has become a central issue in Kyiv’s relations with its allies. Recently Finland’s defence minister argued that Europe has paid for Ukraine’s Patriots and that political will is what is missing from Washington.

In the same interview Pistorius defended continued support for Kyiv, warning that if Germany stops its aid, “millions of Ukrainians will come to us.” On the Bundeswehr he was upbeat: with about 190,000 troops it has its largest force in 13 years and, if the trend continues, there will be no need to discuss a return of compulsory service.