Poland Proposes Putting German Patriot Missiles Near Border With Ukraine

U.S. Army Spc. Scottlin Bartlett of the 5-52 Air Defense Artillery Battalion signals to a colleague while working near a Patriot missile battery at Al-Dhafra Air Base in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Staff Sgt. Jao’Torey Johnson/U.S. Air Force via AP)

WARSAW (Reuters) – Poland will propose deploying additional Patriot missile launchers near its border with Ukraine, following an offer from Germany, Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said on Monday.

“During today’s conversation with the German side, I will propose that the system be stationed at the border with Ukraine,” he wrote on social media.

Germany has offered Warsaw the Patriot missile defense system to help it secure its airspace after a stray missile crashed in Poland last week, Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht told a newspaper on Sunday.

The German government had already said it would offer its neighbor further help in air policing with German Eurofighters after the incident, which initially raised fears that the war in Ukraine could spill across the border.

The missile that hit Poland last week, killing two people, appeared to have been fired by Ukraine’s air defenses rather than a Russian strike, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg has said.

Ground-based air defense systems such as Raytheon’s RTX.N Patriot are built to intercept incoming missiles.

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