American and German red tape have been blamed for the considerable delays NATO members have faced while trying to send weapons and equipment to help Ukraine fight back Russia.
On Saturday, the House of Representatives passed a bill earmarking $61 billion in additional aid to Kyiv, but new weapons and support are not expected to reach the battlefield until late spring.
Germany had lined up Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) armoured vehicles to send over from January but their delivery has been repeatedly postponed, German publication BILD reported.
Berlin had agreed to send 200 of the armoured vehicles in its latest aid package, worth around $523 million, in addition to 10,000 artillery shells.
But now anonymous German Defence Ministry insiders suggested American red tape could be to blame for Germany’s repeated change of plans when it comes to sending new equipment to Kyiv.
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Last week, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that the military organisation “has mapped out existing capabilities across the alliance and there are systems that can be made available to Ukraine.” He did not name the countries that possess Patriots.
The Patriot is a guided missile system that can target aircraft, cruise missiles, and shorter-range ballistic missiles.
Each battery consists of a truck-mounted launching system with eight launchers that can hold up to four missile interceptors each, a ground radar, a control station and a generator.
A key advantage of the US-made systems, apart from their effectiveness, is that Ukrainian troops are already trained to use them.
But Patriots take a long time to make — as long as two years, some estimates suggest — so countries are reluctant to give them up and leave themselves exposed.
Germany had 12, but it is now supplying three to Ukraine. Poland, which borders Ukraine, has two and needs them for its own defences.
NATO keeps track of the stocks of weapons held by its 32 member countries to ensure that they are able to execute the organization’s defence plans in times of need.
But Stoltenberg said on Friday that if dropping below the guidelines is “the only way NATO allies are able to provide Ukraine with the weapons they need to defend themself, well, that’s a risk we have to take.”
