Romania will receive a new model of the “Patriot“ missile system from the US, Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu announced today, adding that the purchase has been agreed and the payment has been made, the Agerpres agency reported, quoted by BTA.
Ciolacu was asked by journalists whether Romania would buy a new “Patriot“ missile defense system from the US to replace the one that the country donated to Ukraine, given the change of administration in the White House and the position expressed by the American side on aid to Ukraine.
“We have signed a contract, we have also collected the money. (…) we have already made the payment. "We are getting a new model," replied Marcel Ciolacu, quoted by Agerpres.
The prime minister spoke to journalists in Timisoara during a visit to the construction site of the Severe Burns Center at the city's District Emergency Hospital.
Romania donated one Patriot surface-to-air missile system to Ukraine in September last year.
Earlier this month, Romanian media reported that the US Department of Defense had awarded a $946 million contract to arms company Raytheon Technologies to supply Romania with additional Patriot missile defense systems to replace the one donated to Ukraine, with the contract set for completion by December 31, 2029.