BERLIN, April 9. /TASS/. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock admitted that Germany has no more extra Patriot air defense systems to send to Kiev.

"Unfortunately, we have nearly exhausted the arsenals of our own Patriot systems at this point, therefore I made it clear at a NATO foreign ministers meeting that we need to check the availability of all Patriot systems in Europe and globally and that we will make every effort to obtain these systems for Ukraine," Germany’s top diplomat said at a news conference in Berlin. Germany and its allies will weigh setting up a special fund for this purpose, she added.

Baerbock pledged prompt efforts jointly with Germany’s Ukrainian and European partners to obtain these systems from third countries as soon as possible. "Hopefully, we will be able to provide open information on this at the [next] G7 meeting," she concluded.

Ukraine has regularly asked the West for air defense systems. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has said that Kiev is waiting on more Patriot systems and missiles but it is hard to agree on additional supplies with the West. On April 4, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that members of the alliance would explore opportunities to send more air defense systems, including Patriot batteries and missiles, to Ukraine.

On March 28, the German Cabinet said that Patriot systems were currently being prepared to be sent to Kiev, without specifying their number. Previously, Germany has sent two such batteries to Ukraine.