Romanian President sets condition for providing Patriot to Ukraine

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said that there is "no time horizon" to resolve the issue of providing Ukraine with the Patriot system, and also made it clear that he will not allow Romania to remain without air defense: if Romania gives up something, it must get something else.

This is reported by Digi24.

So, Iohannis said that he does not want to discuss "in public space" the issue of the possible transfer of the Patriot system to Ukraine, noting that "this issue should be discussed with military specialists" and decided in the country's Supreme Council of National Defence.

"I do not comment on this issue and do not think that it belongs to the general public space. This is an issue that should be discussed with military specialists, which, in the end, should be decided in the Supreme Council of National Defence of the country and the result should be reported. I don't think that a broad public debate on such a very specialized issue is desirable and that it should be held in a region where, unfortunately, we have an armed conflict," President Klaus Iohannis said on Wednesday about the possible transfer of Patriot surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems to Ukraine.

He was asked when the meeting of the Supreme Council of National Defence of the country dedicated to this topic will take place.

"Once the experts clarify the issue... It's not an easy issue. Let's not imagine it's a trailer with three cars. It's very complicated, there are contracts that have been made between the supplier and the beneficiary, there are very complex settings and these things should be made very clear. Not to mention that under no circumstances do I agree that Romania should be left without anti-missile and anti-aircraft defense means. Thus, if Romania ends up giving up something, it should get nothing else will be done," said Iohannis.

As reported by the Ukrainian News agency, on May 21, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that Romania was preparing a new military aid package for Ukraine.

Also, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, against the background of repeated attacks by the aggressor state of the russian federation on the Kharkiv Region, emphasized that 2 Patriot systems are capable of fundamentally changing the situation for Kharkiv.