Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has said he is ready to discuss sending one Patriot anti-aircraft missile system to Ukraine.
Source. He said this after a meeting with US President Joe Biden in Washington on Tuesday, 7 May.
"In recent weeks, there has been a discussion about who can send Patriot systems to Ukraine. President Biden mentioned it at our meeting, and I said I was open to discussions. I have to discuss this with the Supreme Defence Council to see what we can offer and what we can get in return, because it is unacceptable to leave Romania without air defence," Iohannis said.
In 2017, Romania signed a $4 billion contract for the purchase of Patriot air defence systems. So far, one battery has been deployed in the country, but, according to Iohannis, the negotiations concerned another battery that is "almost ready to go."
In turn, the White House said that Biden thanked Romania for its commitment to security on NATO's eastern flank, including in the Black Sea region, as well as for supporting Ukrainian refugees and helping to transport Ukrainian grain.
As a reminder, Berlin has decided to provide Kyiv with the third Patriot system, and Spain has agreed to supply Ukraine with missiles for these systems.
At the April meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine needed seven new Patriot systems to repel Russian attacks.