Ambassador: No decision on Israeli Patriot systems for Ukraine made yet

"As far as I know, there is no final decision yet, but if you look at the current situation in Israel, we need all the air defense systems that exist in Israel, including the Patriot system," he said.

The diplomat explained that Israel has many levels of air defense systems. However, the Iron Dome, known in Ukraine, cannot cope with long-range missiles and ballistic missiles. It is designed primarily to intercept short-range missiles fired by Hamas militants at Israel.

"We have other systems, mostly Israeli developments or Israeli-American developments. And Patriot is not the most advanced system. We are talking about Patriot systems that Israel received in the early 90s before the first Gulf War. You remember, back then, Iraq was firing at Israel with Russian-made Scud missiles. And then the Patriots saved us," Brodsky said.

The ambassador added that there were talks about writing off the outdated Patriot systems to transfer them to Ukraine in the future. But there is no decision yet.

When asked whether Ukraine's acquisition of Israeli Patriot is directly related to the situation in the Middle East, Brodsky replied: "Yes, it is related to the threats that Israel is facing today."

Background

In June 2024, the media reported that the United States, Israel, and Ukraine were negotiating the possible transfer of Patriot systems to Kyiv. These are eight systems that the Israeli army planned to decommission.

A source in the Israeli Defense Ministry told RBC-Ukraine that no decision has been made yet, but it could be made in the near future. So far, this has not happened.

Read more about when Ukraine will be able to receive Israeli Patriot systems in our article.