Germany in talks to buy Patriot missiles for Ukraine after US pause

Germany in talks to buy Patriot missiles for Ukraine after US pause
Germany is in talks on buying Patriot air defence systems for Ukraine to help it counter some of the heaviest Russian attacks since the war began in 2022, a government spokesperson said on Friday. (AFP/File)
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Updated 04 July 2025

Germany in talks to buy Patriot missiles for Ukraine after US pause

Germany in talks to buy Patriot missiles for Ukraine after US pause
  • “There are various ways to fill this Patriot gap,” the spokesperson said
  • Germany has sent three of the US-made systems from its military stocks to Ukraine

BERLIN: Germany is in talks on buying Patriot air defense systems for Ukraine to help it counter some of the heaviest Russian attacks since the war began in 2022, a government spokesperson said on Friday.

The US has paused shipments of certain critical weapons to Ukraine including 30 Patriot air defense missiles, sources told Reuters this week, due to low stockpiles, prompting warnings by Kyiv this would weaken its ability to defend itself.

“There are various ways to fill this Patriot gap,” the spokesperson told a news conference in Berlin, adding that one option being considered is buying the Patriot missile batteries in the United States and then sending them on to Kyiv.

“I can confirm that intensive discussions are indeed being held on this matter,” he said.

Germany has sent three of the US-made systems from its military stocks to Ukraine, and Defense Minister Boris Pistorius last month launched an initiative to chase down more of them at the Ramstein group of some 50 nations.

Pistorius will travel to Washington later this month for talks with his US counterpart about his initiative as well as production capacities, said a defense ministry spokesperson.

“Of course these issues will also be on the agenda,” said the spokesperson.

The US Embassy in Berlin was not immediately available for comment.

Pistorius has floated the idea of buying Patriot systems that could be freed up to bypass long industrial delivery times and ensure they get to Ukraine quickly.

Ukraine is increasingly desperate for the systems that it relies on to destroy fast-moving ballistic missiles.

Russia pummelled Kyiv with the largest drone attack of the war, injuring at least 23 people, just hours after US President Donald Trump spoke to Russia’s Vladimir Putin on Thursday.

Germany, Ukraine’s second largest donor after the United States, has sought to take on more of a leadership role in ensuring backing for Kyiv as US support has been thrown into question under Trump.

While Europe could sustain Ukraine’s resistance without US military support, according to a senior German military official, the challenges would be immense.

Germany has provided a total of 38 billion euros ($43 billion) worth of military aid to Ukraine, including funds earmarked for the coming years, according to the defense ministry.

A Bloomberg News report on Friday said Germany is preparing a 25-billion-euro tank order to ramp up its NATO brigades. The defense ministry had no immediate comment.


Death toll in Louisville UPS plane crash rises to 9

Death toll in Louisville UPS plane crash rises to 9
Updated 6 sec ago

Death toll in Louisville UPS plane crash rises to 9

Death toll in Louisville UPS plane crash rises to 9
  • Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board will be on site later Wednesday morning to begin the process of finding out what went wrong
  • Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said nine dead people had been found at the scene of the crash

KENTUCKY, USA: The death toll from the crash of a UPS cargo plane that erupted into a fireball moments after takeoff in Louisville, Kentucky on Tuesday has risen to nine, city and state officials said Wednesday.
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board will be on site later Wednesday morning to begin the process of finding out what went wrong when the 34-year-old MD-11 cargo plane caught fire around 5:13 p.m. ET Tuesday and then crashed.
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said nine dead people had been found at the scene of the crash. Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said on social media it was possible there would be more fatalities. The plane had a crew of three according to UPS and officials said none of the crew survived.
Several buildings in an industrial area beyond the runway were on fire after the crash, with thick, black smoke seen rising into the evening sky.
Officials said 11 victims had been taken to hospitals on Tuesday.
A government official told Reuters at least 10 others remain unaccounted for. Beshear told CNN that two people remain in critical condition and added it could have been much worse.
“This plane barely missed a restaurant bar. It was very close to a very large Ford plant with hundreds, if not a thousand plus workers,” Beshear said. ” It was very close to our convention center that’s having a big livestock show that people were arriving for.” The international airport in Louisville reopened to air traffic early on Wednesday, though the runway where the accident happened is expected to remain closed for another 10 days, officials said.
UPS said Wednesday it canceled a parcel sorting shift that usually begins in the midmorning at its facility at the airport after it had halted package sorting operations Tuesday.
US aviation safety expert Anthony Brickhouse said on Wednesday he has not seen any evidence of a link between the accident and a 36-day US government shutdown that has strained air traffic control.
NTSB investigators will be looking to retrieve the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder that will shed light on the crash.
Brickhouse said investigators are expected to focus on the number one engine which was seen on video to be ignited, and appeared to have separated from the aircraft. “It is designed to fly if you lose one engine, but we need to see the effect of losing that engine on the rest of the aircraft,” Brickhouse said.
The triple-engine plane was fueled for an 8-1/2 hour flight to Honolulu.
It was the first UPS cargo plane to crash since August 2013, when an Airbus aircraft went down on a landing approach to the international airport in Birmingham, Alabama, killing both crew.