US persuades partners to share Patriot system with Ukraine

According to RT on April 27, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin expressed hope that "in the future the US will be able to resolve the issue of providing Patriot systems to Ukraine, along with a number of other countries."

Earlier, Defense Secretary Austin said the US was allocating $6 billion to produce new weapons for the Kiev government from US contractors. According to him, this is the "largest military assistance package to date".

However, this call from the head of the Pentagon is contrary to the views of NATO allies. On April 23, Bloomberg quoted a close source as saying that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged the US to provide at least one more Patriot missile defense system to Ukraine, to help the Eastern European country narrow the air defense gap in the conflict with Russia.

Berlin’s pressure campaign against Washington is part of a concerted effort to convince NATO and EU partners to step up air defense assistance to Ukraine, according to people familiar with the matter. Germany will also continue to press its European allies, including France and Italy, this week to see what they can offer Kiev, people familiar with the matter said.

The move represents a shift in Germany’s approach to supplying arms to Ukraine. Since the Russia-Ukraine conflict erupted more than two years ago, Berlin has been frequently criticized for delaying arms deliveries.

Meanwhile, on the battlefield, Ukrainian forces have withdrawn their US-supplied Abrams M1A1 battle tanks due to the high risk of being detected by Russian drones. According to US officials, Russian surveillance drones and attack drones have significantly changed the situation on the ground, increasing the risk of detection of the super tanks./.