Germany and the Netherlands send Patriot batteries to Slovakia. Will the S-300s go to Ukraine?
Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren said Friday that the Netherlands is sending a Patriot missile defense system to Slovakia and that Germany is also sending two Patriot systems, while NATO seeks to bolster its forces near Ukraine.
The Dutch will send a small contingent of 150-200 soldiers along with the Patriots. Ollongren's announcement comes after Slovak Defense Minister Jaroslav Nad said Thursday that Slovakia was ready to send its Soviet-designed S-300 missile system to Ukraine "immediately" if it received an "adequate replacement."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for the S-300 air defense system in an appeal to Congress on Wednesday. When it comes to advanced weaponry, Ukrainian forces are only trained to use Russian-made equipment, which many former Soviet bloc NATO countries still have.
Germany and the Netherlands agreed to send Patriots earlier this month before Slovakia proposed the idea of sending its S-300s to Ukraine. But the sides could speed up their plan to put the missile systems in Ukraine's hands.
Any delivery of the S-300 to Ukraine would likely require US approval. So far, the Pentagon has rejected plans to send Russian-made MiG-29 fighter jets located in Poland to Ukraine, but the United States has sent a whole host of other weapons into the war zone, including shoulder-mounted anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles.
Sending more weapons to Ukraine risks provoking Russia as Moscow warns that arms deliveries entering Ukrainian territory would be considered legitimate military targets.
Sending anti-aircraft weapons from NATO to Ukrainian territory would risk causing reactions from Russia, which has threatened repercussions on every arms shipment sent to Ukraine.
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The article Germany and the Netherlands send Patriot batteries to Slovakia. Will the S-300s go to Ukraine? comes from ScenariEconomici.it .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/germania-e-paesi-bassi-inviano-batterie-patriot-in-slovacchia-gli-s-300-andranno-in-ucraina/ on Mon, 21 Mar 2022 08:00:06 +0000.