Ukraine is left without the Patriot promised by the Netherlands – one of the NATO countries has abandoned the project
The Netherlands cannot transfer the promised Patriot system to Ukraine, writes the local publication NL Times.
As noted in the publication, back in late June, the Ministry of Defense of this European country, in its parliamentary report, promised that the Netherlands and its NATO allies would jointly provide Ukraine with the Patriot integrated air defense system.
However, three months passed, and the publication's military sources told reporters that the Patriot transfer would not take place, as Amsterdam's unnamed ally had withdrawn from the project.
This is despite the fact that in May, the Dutch Ministry of Defense announced that it had "core components" of the air defense system ready for delivery. Additional components were to be supplied by other NATO countries.
This week, Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans told the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that the Netherlands recently sent a radar to Kyiv, and three more launchers will be delivered soon. However, other countries that supported the initiative are still searching their own inventory for components to complete the system, Brekelmans said.
"We are still working on it. Discussions are ongoing with several partners," he said.
At the same time, an unnamed representative of the Ministry of Defense reported that the agency had recently been informed “of the refusal of one of the countries to fulfill a previously provided commitment.”
It is not reported which country exactly is being discussed.