WASHINGTON: US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Tuesday said he has been asking countries with Patriot missile systems to donate them to Ukraine, which has requested for more of the air defense batteries.
Austin told a House Armed Services Committee hearing that there are countries that have Patriots, so the US is continuing to engage with them.
Without identifying the countries by name, the Secretary said he had talked to the leaders of several countries in the last two weeks, encouraging them to provide more capability to Ukraine.
Several European Union countries have the systems, including Spain, Greece, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and Sweden.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky earlier this month told NATO members this month that Kyiv needed a minimum of seven additional Patriot or other high-end air defense systems to counter Russian air assaults, asking them to enhance their military assistance for Ukraine.
Earlier, the chief of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Jens Stoltenberg said it was not too late for Ukraine to win the war against Russia, adding that Kyiv needs more weapons.
