The Romanian government has approved a bill to transfer the Patriot system to Ukraine. It has been sent to parliament for a vote, Reuters reports, Babel reports.
After the parliament approves the law, the government will be able to issue a decision that will make the transfer [of Patriot] urgent, – said government spokesman Mihai Constantin.
In June, Bucharest announced that it would transfer one of its two operational Patriot systems to Ukraine, provided that the allies replace it with a similar air defense system. The “Romanian” Patriot is part of the air defense equipment that NATO countries have promised to provide to Ukraine.
The Romanian Ministry of Defense says it will supply one of seven 3+ systems purchased from the United States. This is the most advanced version of the Patriot defense system and is used by the United States and nearly 20 other NATO allies.
In 2017, Romania signed a $4 billion agreement with the United States to purchase seven Patriot systems. The first batch was delivered in 2020. Romania currently has four Patriot systems, two of which are already in operation.
In the early summer, Kyiv actively called on its allies to provide Ukraine with additional Patriot systems and other air defense equipment to protect itself from Russian attacks.
Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, Western countries have provided Ukraine with various air defense systems, all of which can shoot down missiles only with American Patriot systems, of which the Ukrainian military has only a few. Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has repeatedly called on foreign partners to provide Ukraine with 5-7 Patriot systems and called this number the minimum required. To fully protect the skies over Ukraine, 25 Patriot systems are needed.
