Slovakia has tentatively agreed to provide Ukraine with a key Soviet-era air defense system to help defend against Russian airstrikes, according to three people familiar with the matter, but the US and NATO are still trying to figure out how to replenish the country’s own defensive capabilities and the transfer has yet to be secured.
According to two sources, Slovakia, one of three NATO allies with defense systems in question, wants assurances that those systems will be replaced immediately.
If the country provides its S-300s, the supplier country is likely to receive a US-made Patriot air defense system to make up for the capability it is giving up, according to two other people familiar with the talks.
Germany and the Netherlands have already publicly announced that they are sending “Patriots” to Slovakia. But integrating the new integrated air defense system into the country’s existing military architecture, as well as training its forces to use it, could take time, warned one person familiar with the matter.
The push to get more S-300s into Ukrainian hands comes as Congress is pushing the Biden administration to help Ukraine get an air defense system. MPs from both parties, who heard Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speak Wednesday morning, urged the US to do more to help Ukraine get the weapons it seeks, especially after the administration opposed a plan last week to provide Ukraine with Polish MiGs. -29 aircraft.
Rep. Michael McCall, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, hinted publicly on Wednesday that the U.S. was making progress on giving Ukraine access to additional S-300s, an anti-aircraft weapons system that Congressional sources say Ukraine is already effectively uses. against the Russian attack.
“I pushed hard for it,” McCall told CNN’s Jim Sciutto. “I’m proud that they now have the S-300.”
McCall’s aide later said he was referring to the S-300 systems, which have been owned and operated by Ukraine for many years. These systems already exist in the country.
More background: CNN previously reported that the State Department is working to determine which countries currently have S-300s and determine how they could be transferred to Ukraine.
CNN reported earlier Wednesday that other Soviet-era air defense systems, including the SA8, have already been sent to Ukraine.
“People are talking about a no-fly zone, they can create their own if we give them military equipment and weapons,” McCall said.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is due to visit Slovakia later this week after attending the NATO Defense Minister in Brussels.
“At the request of President Zelensky, we have identified and are helping Ukraine acquire additional longer-range anti-aircraft systems and munitions for those systems,” U.S. President Joe Biden said Wednesday as part of comments detailing the new security assistance.
Several sources told CNN that some US allies are also extremely wary of making their contribution to Ukraine public. Bulgaria and Greece also have the more modern S-300 systems in question. Greece’s system is a different model to that currently used in Ukraine, raising questions about whether additional training would be required to be useful.
The State Department and the Slovak embassy in Washington declined to comment. CNN has reached out to the National Security Council and the Department of Defense for comment.