Germany will redeploy Patriot air defense systems to Poland

2024-11-29 15:22:36, Kosova & Bota CNA

Germany has offered to redeploy Patriot air defense systems to NATO member country Poland, starting early next year, the German Defense Ministry announced on Thursday.

The statement said that these units can be deployed for up to six months.

"With this measure we can protect a logistics center in Poland that is of great importance for sending equipment to Ukraine ," said German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius.

His Polish counterpart Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said in a post on the X network that Warsaw welcomes the decision.

Germany deployed 300 troops and three Patriot systems to Poland from early January to November 2023.

Their base was in the city of Zamosc, about 50 kilometers from the border with Ukraine.

Meanwhile, on Friday German Chancellor Olaf Scholz held a telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, whom he assured that Germany will continue military support for Ukraine. This was their first official conversation since Mr. Scholz spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this month.

"I agreed with (President Zelenskyi) to stay in touch, in the light of possible ways for a just peace," the German chancellor wrote on the X network on Friday.

A spokesman for the German government said that the conversation had been "constructive" and that President Zelenskiy had thanked the German government for military assistance, especially air defense.

In Ukraine, a day after massive Russian attacks on energy infrastructure, teams are working to repair the damage. More than 1 million residents were left without power as a result of drone and missile strikes by Russia against Ukraine's electrical grid.

Meanwhile, Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov is staying in North Korea for talks with political and military leaders. The Russian ministry did not provide information on who Mr. Belousov would meet with or the purpose of the talks. North Korean state media did not confirm the visit.

The visit comes a few days after South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol met with a Ukrainian delegation led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov. He called for the two 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./ VOA