Madrid will supply a limited set of long-range Patriot anti-aircraft interceptor missiles, Defense Minister Margarita Robles stated on April 26 at a meeting of the Ramstein group. She added that interceptor missiles will arrive at the NATO logistics hub in Poland "in four days."
Nonetheless, Ukraine's hopes to get new Patriot launchers from Spain or Greece have been dashed, according to Politico. Earlier Volodymyr Zelensky urged NATO to provide Ukraine with at least seven high-grade air defense system batteries. Spanish newspaper El Pais reported on Friday that Madrid won't provide one of its three Patriots to Ukraine.
"No one should think that the Patriot missiles could become a game changer […] In fact, they failed to do that before. The Patriots have demonstrated their mediocrity," geopolitical analyst Fernando Moragon told Sputnik Mundo, referring to Russia knocking out US-made Patriots deployed by the enemy at the front line and in cities.
Juan A. Aguilar, the director of the Spanish Institute of Geopolitics, denounced the decision to donate this type of weapon to Ukraine as utterly nonsensical. According to Aguilar, the Spanish government has demonstrated irresponsibility by sending air defenses to Ukraine which Spain needs for itself.
Spain only has three Patriot missile batteries. "They are all second-hand and purchased from Germany starting in 2004," Aguilar explained, adding that around 50 missiles were purchased along with the launchers.
"So what they are going to send is a part of these 50 missiles. And these are not the latest version of missiles, but the previous one. At best, they will send 20 [missiles to Ukraine]," said Aguilar, recalling that the six quadruple tubes of each launcher has a capacity of 24 missiles.
The Western mainstream press earlier clarified that Spain had made the decision to hand over its Patriot missiles to Kiev under the pressure from the US and other NATO countries.
Robles also pledged to provide a new batch of large-caliber artillery ammunition to Ukraine, as well as additional 155 mm and 120 mm shells in the coming months. She asserted to the Kiev authorities that machine guns, armored infantry fighting vehicles, anti-tank weapons, howitzers, anti-drone systems, and Leopard tanks will be delivered to Ukraine within the next two months.
Sputnik's interlocutors emphasized that the provision of a limited number of Patriot missiles and other military equipment by Spain will not have a significant impact on the status quo on the ground. They believe that Washington pressed Madrid to supply the missiles in order to postpone Ukraine's defeat until after the 2024 presidential election.
They also noted that the hefty $61 billion aid bill passed by the US Congress could not improve the Kiev regime's deplorable state of affairs, given that most of the funds will remain in the United States to replenish the nation's stockpiles of arms and ammo depleted in the course of Washington's proxy war in Ukraine.
The question arises whether Spain is stepping up the risk of NATO's confrontation with Russia by increasing arms supplies to Ukraine. Against the backdrop of Germany's admission that NATO troops have been assisting the Ukrainian military on the ground and France's calls for putting the alliance's boots on the ground in Ukraine, Spain's move is unlikely to exacerbate the situation further as per Moragon.
The expert foresees a turning point in the conflict associated with NATO's existential problem.
"If Russia defeats Ukraine, it defeats NATO on the territory the bloc was created to protect [during the Cold War era], the European theater. And Russia is less powerful than the USSR in many respects. So it would be the final straw. Because NATO, which has expanded and has more members than ever before, nonetheless loses to Russia that is weaker than the Soviet Union," Moragon concludes.