After today's strikes on Kharkiv, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba again called on the West to help with air defense systems, and especially with "Patriot" air defense systems, most effective against Russian air goals, the Russian service of the BBC quoted him as saying.
"Without naming anyone or shaming anyone, I again call on the countries that have Patriot systems to expedite decisions and provide these systems to Ukraine. I believe that the seven complexes "Patriot" are not such a high price for long-term peace in Europe. But they are needed now, not tomorrow. "Unfortunately, words of solidarity alone do not intercept Russian missiles," the minister noted.
So far, only Berlin has committed to providing Kiev with 3 of its 11 Patriot systems
Of European countries with Patriot systems, Spain and Greece have so far refused to redeploy their systems, despite Madrid sending missiles. Poland, a critical conduit for weapons aimed at Ukraine, has also refused to donate one of its systems as Prime Minister Donald Tusk insists he has nothing to replace them with.
One of the reasons for the reluctance to send the "Patriot" is that they are expensive - about $1 billion a unit - and each interceptor missile they fire costs millions.