Poland has no Patriot missiles to spare for Ukraine

Poland does not have enough Patriot air defense missiles to hand over to Ukraine, Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski has said, urging other NATO members to supply Kiev with the scarce interceptors.

In an interview with the Polish Press Agency published on Monday, Sikorski warned of growing pressure on Western air defenses, citing the US-Israeli bombing campaign against Iran.  

“Following the attacks on Iran, the shortage of interceptor missiles has indeed increased, and Russia is producing more missiles than we have interceptors to neutralize them. This is a real problem,” he said.  

“There are NATO countries that still have such resources to contribute, but Poland is not one of them,” Sikorski said, adding that Warsaw “can only join the calls for countries possessing Patriot missiles to share them with Ukraine.”  

The issue sparked a political scandal in Poland in July, when the government came under fire over the transfer of Patriot interceptors to Ukraine as part of a wider NATO-backed aid package. Opposition politicians accused Warsaw of sacrificing its own security to arm Kiev, while Prime Minister Donald Tusk insisted the deliveries would not compromise the country’s defenses.  

Poland has emerged as one of the EU’s most rapidly militarizing nations, with defense spending reaching 4.7% of GDP. Warsaw has also been one of Kiev’s staunchest backers, pouring billions into military and other aid while serving as a crucial hub for Western arms shipments.  

Yet Poland now faces delays in replenishing its own arsenal, with deliveries of US-made PAC-3 MSE Patriot interceptors pushed back as the war with Iran drains American weapons stocks, Polish General Ireneusz Nowak warned earlier this month.  

Relations with Kiev have also soured over Ukraine’s honoring of Nazi collaborators linked to the World War II-era Volhynia massacres, in which Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) militants associated with the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) killed an estimated 100,000 ethnic Poles. Warsaw recognizes the killings as genocide, while Kiev continues to honor figures including OUN leader Stepan Bandera.  

Tensions flared again this year after Zelensky awarded a Ukrainian military unit the honorary title “Heroes of the UPA.” Polish President Karol Nawrocki subsequently stripped him of the country’s highest honor, politicians on both sides renounced state decorations, and Warsaw threatened to obstruct Ukraine’s EU accession.  

The ammunition crunch is spreading across NATO. In July, the Netherlands said it had exhausted its capacity to supply Ukraine with Patriot missiles from its own stocks, having already provided interceptors and helped assemble a complete Patriot system for Kiev.  

Meanwhile, Kiev is facing a critical shortage of air defense ammunition as Russia intensifies strikes on Ukrainian military and energy infrastructure. Moscow has said the attacks are in retaliation for Kiev’s continued strikes on Russian territory, including civilian targets and energy facilities.  

Vladimir Zelensky has requested 300 Patriot interceptors from European backers and complained that Washington has approved only some of the missiles purchased through a NATO-backed initiative. The White House has also delayed approving additional transfers as US President Donald Trump presses Ukraine to reach a negotiated settlement with Russia.  

Moscow has repeatedly maintained that Western weapons deliveries prolong the conflict, obstruct peace efforts, and risk drawing NATO countries into a direct confrontation with Russia.