Germany in talks with allies over Polish push for Patriot deployment to Ukraine - Reuters

BERLIN/WARSAW, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Germany said connected Friday it was discussing with allies Poland's petition that German Patriot aerial defence units beryllium sent to Ukraine, aft NATO's main suggested the subject confederation mightiness not reason specified a move.

"We are talking with our allies astir however to grip Poland's ... suggestion," a German authorities spokesperson told reporters successful Berlin.

Berlin offered Warsaw the Patriot strategy to assistance unafraid its airspace aft a stray rocket crashed and killed 2 radical successful Poland past week. Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak aboriginal asked Germany to nonstop the occurrence units to Ukraine instead.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said specified deployments should beryllium decisions for idiosyncratic nations, taking into relationship rules astir last users.

"The circumstantial decisions connected circumstantial systems are nationalist decisions," helium told reporters successful Brussels.

"Sometimes determination are extremity users agreements and different things truthful they request to consult with different allies. But astatine the extremity of the day, it (the decision) has to beryllium taken by the nationalist governments," helium added.

Stoltenberg's comments came aft German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht connected Thursday said sharing Germany's Patriot units extracurricular NATO territory would require anterior discussions with NATO and the allies.

Patriots are produced by the U.S. institution Raytheon (RTX.N).

On Friday, the Polish president said it was Germany's determination wherever its Patriot aerial defence units are stationed, adding that it would beryllium amended for Poland's information if they were connected Ukrainian territory adjacent the border.

"From a subject constituent of view, it would beryllium champion if they were located successful Ukraine to besides support Polish territory, past they would support some Ukraine and Poland astir effectively," Andrzej Duda told a quality league successful Kaunas, Lithuania. "But the determination rests with the German side."

Duda aboriginal said that Germany could nonstop the Patriot units to Ukraine without NATO troops to run them, thing helium says Kyiv has been asking for for a while.

"But if determination is nary consent to this, fto them beryllium present (in Poland) and support us," Duda wrote connected Twitter.

On the sidelines of NATO drills successful northeastern Poland, Blaszczak took a swipe astatine Berlin by saying helium was amazed by the thought that the German Patriots mightiness beryllium excessively precocious to beryllium transferred to Ukraine.

"These are the aged patriots, the Polish mentation is the newest ... the assertion that the aged German Patriots are precise precocious is not true," helium said.

Reporting by Sabine Siebold, Bart Meijer and Miranda Murray; Additional reporting by Alan Charlish, Pawel Florkiewicz and Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk successful Warsaw; editing by Frank Jack Daniel, Philippa Fletcher, William Maclean

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