Germany said on Tuesday it was proposing to extend the deployment of its Patriot anti-missile systems in Poland, possibly until the end of the year, AFP reported.

Berlin deployed three Patriot units to eastern Poland in January after an explosion in a Polish village in late 2022, believed to have been caused by a stray Ukrainian air defense missile.

Initially, this deployment was supposed to last six months at most. But Germany’s defense ministry said it had offered Warsaw to keep the Patriot batteries “for the summer and probably until the end of the year”.

However, it has been stated that there are no plans to continue this deployment beyond 2023.

Poland’s defense minister initially rejected Germany’s offer, asking Berlin instead to send them to Ukraine to fight the Russian invasion, but then agreed.

Germany, one of the main arms suppliers to Kyiv, also sent the Patriot system to Ukraine.

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