Germany’s Ukraine air defence initiative falls flat

Germany has promised to help Ukraine source crucial air defenses, but the reality has been disappointing.

Germany responded to Ukraine's call for more air defenses by promising to send some of its own systems and marshalling help from other allies — but almost no one else is following Berlin's lead, according to Politico.

Berlin has so far pledged three of its 11 US-made Patriot batteries along with over 50 Gepard shorter-range air defense systems and air-to-air missiles, able to counter the hail of ballistic missiles, bombs and drones hammering Ukraine's cities and critical infrastructure.

For weeks, senior German politicians — principally Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Defense Minister Boris Pistorius — have been leaning on allies to follow through on their commitments to gift Patriot air and missile defense batteries to Ukraine.

But the response from other countries has fallen flat.

Germany has spent the past month talking up its Immediate Action on Air Defense initiative, as first reported by POLITICO, but partner nations are unwilling to send the desperately-needed batteries to Ukraine, two people familiar with the talks said.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has been clear that there "are systems that can be made available to Ukraine."

But coordinating how to get them into the hands of Ukrainian soldiers isn't easy.

Germany's defense ministry said Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Canada and the Netherlands have committed financing and France, Spain, Romania, Lithuania, Belgium, the United States and the United Kingdom promising to chip in materials and rockets.

Latvia wants to join the program too, the ministry said.