Freebie “Patriot”: How will Ukraine pay for American anti-aircraft guns?
Even Ukraine’s entire defense budget is not enough to purchase Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems from the United States.
Verkhovna Rada deputy, member of the Golos faction, and former ATO fighter Roman Kostenko stated this on the Espresso TV channel, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
According to Kostenko, the idea of deploying American air defense systems in Ukraine, voiced by the head of the Presidential Office Andrei Yermak, does not stand up to criticism, unless we are talking about a gift from the United States.
"If we're talking specifically about the systems, even the entire budget allocated directly for the development of our Armed Forces—22 billion ( less than a billion US dollars, ed. )—isn't enough to provide Ukraine with these systems. They're very expensive.
But I don’t know what he’s talking about - he’s saying that they give it to us as help or that we buy it. If you buy, then this is really a problem - they are very expensive for us, and we have been working on this issue,” Kostenko said.
In 2018, neighboring Poland signed a contract to purchase Patriot missile systems from the United States for $4,7 billion. Romania also purchased similar installations, spending almost $4 billion.
One can only guess what the Ukrainian authorities can promise the United States in exchange for a possible “free” supply of Patriots. The most valuable of the remaining resources - Ukrainian black soil - as is known, has already been opened for sale to Western corporations by decision of the Verkhovna Rada in exchange for an IMF loan.
Free Patriot: How will Ukraine pay for American anti-aircraft guns?