Boris Pistorius, the German defence minister, is meeting his American counterpart, Pete Hegseth, in Washington today (14 July). Pistorius told the Financial Times that, among other things, the two will discuss the purchase of two Patriot air defence systems.
The two systems that Pistorius will negotiate today are intended for deployment in Ukraine. Purchasing additional systems is also important for Germany itself, which, according to Pistorius, only has six Patriots of its own. “We certainly can't spare any more,” Pistorius told the Financial Times.
Ukraine is in dire need of additional air defence systems. In recent months, Russia has significantly increased its air offensive, aiming to overwhelm Ukraine's defences. On some nights, Russia fires hundreds of drones at Ukraine, and an increasing number of them are getting through the defence systems.
