Germany is ready to purchase from the US the Peitrit air defence systems and hand them over to Ukraine.

This was stated by German Chancellor Friedrich Mertz amid increased Russian air strikes, Sky News reported.

Merz's statement came hours after another large-scale Russian attack on Ukraine. Moscow's forces fired 397 drones and 18 missiles overnight, mostly targeting Kiev, killing two people and injuring at least 24 others.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Ukraine Reconstruction Conference in Rome, Mertz said he had last week asked US President Donald Trump to deliver Patriot systems to Ukraine.

"We are also ready to purchase additional Patriot systems from the US to provide them to Ukraine. The Americans need some of them themselves, but they have plenty of them," the German chancellor added.

A final decision on the delivery has not yet been made, Merz said.

The day before, on July 9, Trump said his administration "will have to look at" the possibility of supplying Ukraine with another Patriot system.

"The Wall Street Journal reported that the White House is considering sending Kiev a Patriot battery, which would be the administration's first major transfer of new weapons since it took office in January. | BGNES