German defence minister wants Polish tank hub talks done in 10 days

ZAMOSC, Poland (Reuters) - An agreement on extending the deployment of three German air defence units to Poland is being held up by fraught separate negotiations on the establishment of a maintenance hub in Poland for Leopard tanks damaged in Ukraine.

"Time is of the essence ... We believe the talks (on the maintenance hub) should, if at all possible, be completed within the next 10 days so that we know in what direction to plan," German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said on Monday.

Pistorius was speaking after talks with his Polish counterpart, Mariusz Blaszczak, in the Polish town of Zamosc.

German and Polish companies are involved in the negotiations on the maintenance hub, as well as both countries' governments, and the main problems are seen on the companies' side.

Pistorius' remark about the need to see in what direction to plan was seen as a veiled threat to choose a location outside Poland for the tank maintenance hub.

Together with three Patriot air defence units, some 300 German soldiers have been based in Zamosc, about 50 km (31 miles) from the Ukrainian border, since February to protect the southern town and its crucial railway link to Ukraine.

In a public statement after the talks on Monday, Pistorius did not address a request by Blaszczak for the extension of the German Patriot deployment until the end of the year.

"The complete subordination of Belarus, the transfer of nuclear weapons to Belarus, the Wagner Group, all show that the threats (from Russia) are real," said Blaszczak.

"Therefore, we would like to emphasize that we are interested in the Patriot system staying on Polish soil at least until the end of this year."

Relations between Berlin and the ruling nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party in Warsaw have been strained, with both sides at odds over a range of topics - from arms deliveries to Kyiv to an EU migration deal rejected by Poland.

Poland has been on alert for a possible spillover of the war in neighbouring Ukraine, especially since two people were killed in the region last November by what Warsaw concluded was a stray Ukrainian air defence missile.

As a result, Berlin offered to deploy three of its Patriot units to Poland to help secure its air space.

Germany has also pledged to send Patriot units to Lithuania to protect the July 11-12 NATO summit in Vilnius.

(Reporting by Sabine Siebold and Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk, Editing by Miranda Murray, William Maclean)