Americans block the sale of weapons for Europe. On the list, among others, patriots

The US began to suspend the sale of selected weapon systems, including patriots, European allies, citing a small supply of these systems and the need to prioritize the needs of the American armed forces – said Atlantic magazine.

According to the newspaper, the first signal of the change appeared when Denmark was preparing to make a decision to buy air defense systems. American and French negotiators promoted their offers for weeks, after which the Pentagon unexpectedly withdrew from conversations. Finally, Denmark has signed a USD 9.1 billion agreement with a French-Italian consortium in recent days.

According to officials in Washington, the deputy head of the Pentagon Elbridge Colby in an interview with the State Department expressed opposition to the sale of Patriot Denmark air defense systems, arguing that their availability is limited and should be reserved for American needs.

The Pentagon has indicated weapon systems, whose availability is small, and is preparing to block orders for these systems from Europe – the newspaper said, citing former and current representatives of the US administration. She added that it is not clear for now how long the suspension of orders should take, how many weapons applies or whether their list may be extended over time. Several exceptions are provided.

According to the magazine “Recent talks regarding the suspension of sales of weapons, they do not apply to weapons sent directly to Ukraine, which is covered by a separate program.”

Collecting valuable systems in the country, with a significant limitation of their exports, is a close approach to Colby's views, which claims that the US should concentrate their defense resources as part of preparation for a potential conflict with China. This is also part of a change in defense priorities as part of the “America primarily” strategy “of the current US administration.

Patriot systems, without a European counterpart, are crucial for capturing bullets and are very popular among NATO countries and defending against Russian aggression of Ukraine. According to Atlantic, citing sources in the defense ministry, currently the US has only about a quarter of patriots needed to implement the Pentagon operational plans.

For NATO countries, sales suspension has both practical and political dimensions – emphasizes Atlantic. European countries, which have transferred significant amounts of their own weapons to Ukraine, now want to urgently replace them.

– We press Europeans to send equipment to Ukraine, and then refuse them tools to rebuild their own defense – noted the retired marine colonel Mark Cancian quoted by Atlantic.

This policy may also have economic consequences for Washington. Limiting exports threatens to decrease in the income of American arms companies, which may affect employment and inhibition innovation. At the same time, this opens new possibilities to European producers, an example of which is the choice of Denmark.

Analysts warn that changing politics may mean a departure from many years of US practice, in which the sale of American weapons served not only economic purposes, but was also the foundation of strategic relations with allies.

From New York Andrzej Dobrowolski (PAP)

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