Germany's Merz spoke with Trump about buying Patriots for Ukraine [View all]
Source: Reuters
July 4, 2025 10:56 AM EDT Updated 8 hours ago
BERLIN, July 4 (Reuters) - German Chancellor Friedrich Merz discussed his country's offer to buy Patriot air defence systems for Ukraine with U.S. President Donald Trump by phone on Thursday, according to a government spokesperson.
Merz initiated the call with Trump to promote arms deliveries to Ukraine, particularly Patriots, after the Pentagon paused some shipments, the spokesperson told Reuters on Friday. Spiegel magazine first reported the phone call.
Germany was in "intensive talks" to buy Patriots for Ukraine to help it counter some of the heaviest Russian attacks since the war began in 2022, the spokesperson said earlier on Friday at a press conference. "There are various ways to fill this Patriot gap," the spokesperson told journalists, adding that one option being considered was buying the Patriot missile batteries in the United States and then sending them on to Kyiv.
The U.S. has paused shipments of certain critical weapons to Ukraine including 30 Patriot air defence missiles, sources told Reuters this week, due to low stockpiles, prompting warnings by Kyiv this would weaken its ability to defend itself. Germany has sent three of the U.S.-made systems from its military stocks to Ukraine, and Defence Minister Boris Pistorius last month launched an initiative to chase down more of them at the Ramstein group of some 50 nations.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/germany-talks-buy-patriots-ukraine-after-us-pause-2025-07-04/
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