The Government of Romania approved the draft law on the transfer of the Patriot system to Ukraine. It was sent to the parliament for a vote.
Reuters writes about it.
"After parliament approves the law, the government will be able to issue a decision that will make the transfer [Patriot] urgent," said government spokesman Mihai Сonstantin.
In June, Bucharest said it would hand over one of its two operational Patriot systems to Ukraine on the condition 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.
In 2017, Romania signed an agreement with the US to purchase seven Patriot systems worth $4 billion. The first batch was delivered in 2020. Romania currently has four Patriot systems, two of which are already operational.
- In early summer, Kyiv actively urged allies to transfer additional Patriot systems and other air defense equipment to Ukraine to defend against Russian attacks.
- Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russia in February 2022, Western countries have provided Ukraine with various air defense systems, all missiles can only be shot down by American Patriot air defense systems, of which the Ukrainian military has only a few. Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba has repeatedly called on foreign partners to transfer 5-7 Patriot systems to Ukraine and called this number the minimum necessary. 25 Patriot systems are needed to fully protect the sky over Ukraine.