(new: Pistorius statement)
RAMSTEIN (dpa-AFX) – Leopard tanks from Germany that were damaged in the Ukraine war are to be repaired in Poland in the future and thus be able to return to the front more quickly. Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) agreed on Friday at the sidelines of the Ukraine contact group meeting at the US military base in Ramstein (Palatinate) with his counterparts from Warsaw and Kiev to set up a repair center. A fund solution was agreed for the “fair distribution” of the costs of 150 to 200 million euros a year, he said. The center will probably start work at the end of May.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin swore the Western partners in Ramstein to continue to support Ukraine in the war against Russia. “Ukraine urgently needs our help to protect its citizens, infrastructure and units from the threat of Russian missiles.” They will support Kiev as long as necessary.
The US Secretary of Defense had invited the international contact group for the coordination of military aid to Ukraine to Ramstein for the fourth time since the war began in February 2022. Representatives from over 50 countries took part in the conference on the 422nd day of the Russian war of aggression – including the Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
Stoltenberg spoke out in favor of continuing talks about handing over Western fighter jets to Ukraine. Deliveries by allies must be discussed further, he said. So far, Ukraine has received Soviet-designed Mig-29 fighter jets from the West. However, the country’s armed forces want Western-style aircraft for defensive combat against Russia. This could be an F-16 built in the USA, for example.
Pistorius rejected a possible delivery of German fighter jets to Ukraine. Ukrainian pilots are helped with aircraft that they can fly promptly and be serviced on site. “You don’t change from one rental car to the other.” The German Tornados and Eurofighters have different capabilities than those needed in Ukraine. “This is addressed to those who have the right aircraft,” Pistorius explained.
Regarding Ukraine’s possible NATO membership, the minister said that now was not the right time for such a discussion. “Everyone sees Ukraine as a NATO partner in the future, but there is still a way to go.” Now it’s about Ukraine getting the upper hand in the war against Russia. “In the end, the NATO partners decide who will become a member. I can see that there is broad agreement, but now is not the time.”
Stoltenberg also made it clear that he currently considers the discussion about further arms deliveries to be much more important than plans for Ukraine to join NATO. “Now it’s all about Ukraine winning,” he said in Ramstein. “Because if Ukraine doesn’t assert itself as a sovereign, independent nation in Europe, then there’s no point in discussing membership.”
That is why it is now a matter of maintaining unity in supporting Ukraine. Stoltenberg again indirectly ruled out Ukraine joining NATO in times of war. According to the Secretary General, Zelenskyy will take part in the NATO summit on July 11-12 in Lithuania. It was initially unclear whether the President would travel or take part in consultations via video conference.
According to Austin, the efforts of the partners for Ukraine made a big difference on the battlefield and showed how miscalculated the Kremlin was. The United States has provided Ukraine with military aid worth more than $35 billion since the war began, he said.
After reports of a planned end to the use of German Patriot air defense systems in Poland in June, the Federal Ministry of Defense made it clear that there would still be talks with NATO partners. “The statements about the stationing plans of our Patriot squadron in Poland and Slovakia related to original plans,” the ministry said on Friday.
The Patriot systems are part of NATO’s Rapid Reaction Force, it said. Decisions are therefore made in close coordination with the NATO forces in Europe and always require a separate political decision. In Ramstein, Pistorius will hold intensive discussions with all partners and allies.
The Funke media group had previously reported, citing a spokesman for the ministry, that the Bundeswehr wanted to end the deployment of German Patriot air defense systems in Poland according to current plans by June of this year. The end of the German Patriot mission in Slovakia is planned for the end of the year.
Pistorius said in Ramstein there was “no confusion” about the weapon system. “There are currently ongoing considerations about where the Patriots are going and when.”/wo/DP/stw