Spain has agreed to provide Ukraine with missiles for Patriot air defense systems, despite pressure from NATO and the EU, El Pais writes, UNN reports.
Details
As noted, the decision to transfer a small number of missiles, each of which costs more than a million euros, was made after the Spanish Ministry of Defense refused to transfer to Ukraine a battery deployed since 2013 on the border of Turkey and Syria.
The Spanish army has three batteries, each with their own missile launchers, radar and control station, purchased from Germany in 2004 and 2014.
According to El Pais, one of these batteries is located in the city of Adana (Turkey). The other two are located at the Marine Corps base in Valencia, and one of them is used for training Ukrainian and Spanish soldiers.
The Ministry of Defense has categorically refused to supply Ukraine with a battery deployed in Turkey, claiming that it is the only effective means in the event of a missile attack.
However, according to the newspaper's sources, the government has agreed to supply a batch of Patriot missiles as compensation. El Pais writes that a "very limited number" of batteries will be transferred.
Recall
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said this week that Ukraine has found seven Patriot air defense systems that could be transferred by partners. Germany is sending one of them, negotiations are underway on four more, and two more are in Ukraine's "field of vision."