US, Ukraine negotiate with Israel on transfer of 8 Patriot systems to Kyiv - FT
The US, Israel and Ukraine are negotiating to provide Kyiv with up to eight Patriot air defence systems.
This was reported by the Financial Times, citing sources, Censor.NET reports.
According to the sources, the agreement on the transfer of Patriot air defence systems to Ukraine was discussed at the level of ministers and senior officials of the three countries. In particular, according to the interlocutors of the publication, in recent weeks, negotiations on this issue have been conducted by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.
One of the FT's sources noted that Ukraine has also been in direct talks with Israel about the transfer of these air defence systems.
Former US officials and analysts believe that Israeli air defence systems are likely to be sold to the US first, after which they could be transferred to Ukraine.
It is noted that the agreement is likely to concern eight Patriot batteries over 30 years old. This year in April, Israel announced that it would begin decommissioning these batteries.
The M901 PAC-2 systems in question are older than the PAC-3s currently in service in Ukraine. However, analysts point out that PAC-2s are fully compatible with PAC-3s. Moreover, Israel has sufficient stocks of interceptor missiles for these systems.
The FT writes that Israel has previously rejected Ukraine's requests for air defence systems. This is, in particular, due to Russia's influence in Syria, where the Israeli air force often operates against Iranian-affiliated forces.
