BERLIN, November 7. /TASS/. Germany can no longer supply Ukraine with Patriot air defense systems due to the risk of creating critical gaps in its own defenses, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said in an interview with the Funke media group.

"Supplies, particularly of Patriot systems, are proving difficult. Germany has already delivered several systems and a large number of guided missiles for them. We cannot do any more at this point. Anything we hand over now cannot be replaced for some time, and this would create gaps in our [defenses] that we cannot afford to allow," the German defense minister said.

He also noted that other countries "have done significantly less," and said Germany expects its partners to step up their efforts. "We must have a very serious discussion about this at the next meeting of the Ukraine Contact Group in mid-November," he said.

At the same time, Pistorius said he saw little chance of a ceasefire in Ukraine in the near future. The German defense minister also claimed that ending aid to Kiev, as advocated by the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, would trigger a massive influx of Ukrainian refugees into Central and Western European countries.

Germany is Ukraine’s largest donor, Since February 24, 2022, Berlin has provided Kiev with around 43.3-billion-euro worth of humanitarian and 57.6-billion-euro worth of military aid. In addition to official channels, various private and public German organizations regularly send humanitarian aid to Ukraine. Meanwhile, the Russian side has repeatedly stated that arms deliveries to the Kiev regime only protract the conflict.