Merz: Ukraine to receive Patriot systems in coming weeks

This was announced by German Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz at a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London on July 17, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

“At this moment, the Defense Ministries are discussing the details of how we can ensure the timely delivery of Patriot systems to Ukraine. This could take weeks. The negotiations are very specific, the American side is ready to do this, but we do not yet have a result,” Merz stated.

He suggested that “at this moment,” agreements will be reached between the Defense Ministers that will make it technically possible to fulfill the promise made by the U.S. President.

“The U.S. is ready to provide Ukraine with weapons, which will be financed by European partners. Germany wants to make a significant contribution to this. We need to discuss the details with our partners as soon as possible,” Merz emphasized.

The Federal Chancellor recalled that in recent days, an agreement had been reached that new Patriot systems would be delivered to Ukraine from the European continent and Eastern Europe as a whole, and that these systems would then be replaced by the United States. The important question now is when such a replacement might happen.

“Above all, we need clarity on how the U.S. will replace the weapons systems transferred by Europe… After all, we must also maintain our defense capabilities,” the Federal Chancellor stressed.

The Federal Chancellor also added that Ukraine will soon — in the coming weeks and months — receive further support “on a large scale,” including in the area of long-range weapons, in particular through industrial cooperation between Germany and Ukraine. Merz refused to disclose details and once again evaded answering the question of whether Taurus missiles would be supplied to Ukraine.

In the context of the introduction of U.S. sanctions, the Federal Chancellor also expressed hope that the U.S. government, together with the U.S. Congress, would adopt decisions that had been in preparation in Congress for several weeks.

He noted that all these decisions increase pressure on Putin to finally agree to peace and also show that Europe and the U.S. are joining efforts in security policy.

As reported earlier today, the two countries signed the Treaty between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Federal Republic of Germany on friendship and bilateral cooperation, which is the first such document in the history of relations between Berlin and London.

Earlier, Germany announced its readiness to finance the purchase of two Patriot systems for Ukraine from the United States.