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Poland is not in a position to provide Ukraine with U.S.-made Patriot missiles, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski told the Polish Press Agency (PAP) in an interview published on Oct. 19, as Kyiv struggles to intercept Russian missile strikes.
Sikorski said that the shortage of interceptor missiles had worsened after the attacks on Iran, and that Russia now produces more missiles.
“This is a genuine problem,” Sikorski said.
At the same time Sikorski added that other NATO countries still could transfer such resources to Ukraine, but did not specify which countries he was referring to.
For now, Sikorski said, Poland can only join in the appeals to other countries to help supply Ukraine with the much needed missiles.
The comments come as Ukraine faces renewed Russian ballistic missile attacks and increasingly severe shortages of the interceptors needed to defend against them.
Patriot systems are among Ukraine's most important defenses against Russian ballistic missiles, which are particularly difficult to intercept using other systems.
On Oct. 15, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Polish aid helped Ukraine defend Kyiv during recent attacks, having provided ammunition used by Ukraine's anti-aircraft guns. Zelensky also hinted at other, more sensitive Polish support which would have to remain confidential; "sometimes it should remain between the two of us," he said.
On Oct. 18, Zelensky said that Washington has approved only some of the missiles purchased through the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) initiative, which allows NATO allies to finance the purchase of U.S.-made weapons for Ukraine, according to Bloomberg.
"The American side approved the delivery of only some of them, but not the rest. And this is not a technical issue," Zelensky said.
The Ukrainian president said the U.S. is currently supplying just 12 Patriot interceptor missiles per month, approximately one-quarter of the number provided under former President Joe Biden's administration.