Germany has offered to reposition its Patriot air defense systems in Poland, a NATO member country, at the beginning of the new year, the German Ministry of Defense announced on Thursday.
In the statement, it was said that these units could be deployed for up to six months.
“With this measure, we can protect a logistics hub in Poland that is crucial for sending equipment to Ukraine,” said German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius.
His Polish counterpart, Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, expressed approval of the decision in a post on X (formerly Twitter), stating that Warsaw welcomes the move.
Germany had deployed 300 troops and three Patriot systems in Poland from January to November 2023. Their base was located in the city of Zamosc, about 50 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.
Meanwhile, on Friday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had a phone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during which he reassured him that Germany would continue to provide military support for Ukraine. This was their first official conversation since Scholz spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this month.
“I agreed with President Zelenskyy to stay in contact, in light of possible paths to a just peace,” Chancellor Scholz wrote on X on Friday.
A spokesperson for the German government said the conversation had been “constructive,” and President Zelenskyy thanked the German government for its military assistance, particularly regarding air defense.
In Ukraine, one day after massive Russian attacks on energy infrastructure, repair teams are working to fix the damage. More than 1 million residents were left without power due to drone and missile strikes by Russia on Ukraine’s electrical grid.
Meanwhile, Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov is in North Korea for talks with political and military leaders. The Russian Ministry of Defense did not provide information about whom Belousov would meet or the purpose of his visit. North Korean state media did not confirm the visit either.
This visit comes just days after South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol met with a Ukrainian delegation led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov. He called for both countries to plan measures in response to the deployment of thousands of North Korean troops in Russia, in support of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
