Germany Launches Initiative to Strengthen Ukraine’s Air Defense

The German government has put forth an initiative to strengthen Ukraine’s air defense capabilities, as reported by Tagesschau.

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Defense Minister Boris Pistorius have reached out to NATO and EU partners to find new air defense systems for Ukraine as quickly as possible. They have also contacted third countries, but have not disclosed which ones.

A Foreign Ministry spokesperson stated that the goal of the initiative is to find available air defense systems as quickly as possible and deliver them to Ukraine immediately.

The Ukrainian authorities have been calling on allies for several weeks to help with air defense systems and ammunition for them. The military has a shortage, which has allowed Russian missile and drone attacks to break through the defenses.

On April 13, Germany announced that it would transfer another Patriot launcher and ammunition to Ukraine for existing air defense systems.