Several German MPs have approved the idea of Western “cross-border” anti-aircraft units shooting down Russian missiles over Ukraine
"This would relieve the burden on Ukrainian air defenses and allow them to protect the front line," Roderich Kiesewetter of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) argued, according to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper.
He referred to the US, the UK and France helping Israel repulse Iran’s massive missile attack in April, which Kiesewetter claimed shows that "the involved states do not necessarily have to become ‘warring parties’ to a conflict."
Agnieszka Brugger of the Alliance 90/The Greens party insisted that "it’s OK to station air defense systems at the borders of Ukraine’s neighboring nations so that the western parts of the country can also be protected."
"Ukraine’s air defense from Poland and Romania should not be ruled out in the long term," Brugger’s colleague Anton Hofreiter said. But this is "not up for debate" currently because the current priority is to deliver "significantly more" military equipment and ammunition to Ukraine as part of Western aid, he added.
"The airspace over the Ukrainian border regions" could in principle "be protected by air defense systems stationed on NATO territory," Marcus Faber from the Free Democratic Party said. But he admitted that "[air defense] batteries and rockets are already in short supply."
The remarks come after Nico Lange, senior researcher at the Munich Security Conference, stated in an interview with the Tagesschau TV news program that NATO allies should use "the numerous" Patriot anti-aircraft systems to down "all Russian missiles and drones" over Ukraine from the territory of Poland.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has, meanwhile, stressed that Europeans are deliberately stirring up tensions around the situation in Ukraine because they realize the fact that Kiev faces a complete collapse. "The moment is very important and, of course, this is very provocative on their [Europeans’] part," Peskov added.
The Washington Post earlier reported that Ukraine’s "dwindling air defense capabilities are showing vulnerabilities, as more Russian missiles and drones are able to hit targets such as [Kiev's] critical infrastructure facilities."
Western countries have ramped up military and financial aid to the Kiev regime since the start of the Russian special military operation, with Moscow condemning the ongoing assistance as proof of a NATO proxy war with Russia.