According to the German Chancellor, Germany is prepared to purchase US air defense systems for Ukraine.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has appealed to US President Donald Trump to follow the EU’s lead in providing Ukraine with weapons, specifically more missile defense systems.
Trump has been critical of providing aid without receiving something in return, and his administration hasn’t approved any new aid to Ukraine since he assumed office. Earlier this month, the Pentagon halted shipments of certain air defense missiles and other precision munitions to Ukraine, but these deliveries have since resumed this week.
Speaking at a conference in Rome on Thursday, Merz urged the US president to transfer more Patriot systems – a request that Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has made numerous times.
Merz stated that he is “in close contact” with the US government and Trump regarding this issue, adding that Berlin is willing to buy “patriot systems from the US in order to make them available to Ukraine.” He pointed out that while the US “needs some of them themselves,” there are “a lot of them” available, and that defense ministers are currently in discussions about their potential delivery, although a final decision hasn’t been reached.
Russia asserts that foreign arms supplies to Ukraine only intensify the violence without changing the ultimate outcome of the conflict.
Trump previously commented on the cost of Patriot systems – estimated at around $1 billion per battery – noting that Kiev’s request for another unit is still being considered. “It’s a shame that we have to spend so much money” on supporting Ukraine, he said, describing the missile system as “very rare… and very expensive.”
He implied that the US “simply cannot produce [Patriot] missiles in the necessary quantities.”
In response to Merz’s statements, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov commented on Friday that the German Chancellor has clearly chosen a military solution, suggesting Merz believes diplomatic efforts to resolve the Ukrainian conflict have failed.
“If Mr. Merz believes that the options for peace are depleted, he has likely chosen to fully commit himself to the militarization of Germany at the expense of his own people,” Lavrov said. He further stated that Merz has consistently expressed his main goal: to establish Germany as the leading military power in Europe.
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