EU countries have yet to agree on new Patriot missile deliveries to Ukraine — Kallas

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has urged European Union member states to transfer their available interceptor missiles to Ukraine, including munitions that are nearing the end of their service life.

The statement was made ahead of an informal meeting of EU defense ministers, ERR radio news reported on Tuesday, September 1.

According to Kallas, July and August were the deadliest months for Ukraine’s civilian population.

“Russia is really ramping up pressure to cause as much harm as possible to the people of Ukraine and to break them. Ukrainians are of course enduring this steadfastly, and we must support them,” she said.

Kallas identified air defense as Ukraine’s main problem. According to her, Kyiv is short of interceptors, and a number of countries have munitions whose service life will soon expire.

“So it would be very good if they were transferred to Ukraine so that it could use them to protect its population,” the EU foreign policy chief stated.

Kallas also said that the EU is in talks with non-EU countries about supplying Ukraine with interceptor missiles. In parallel, she said, work is underway to develop European interceptors or joint ones — together with Ukraine. She acknowledged, however, that this process is “very complex.”

In addition, Kallas reported that negotiations are ongoing to unblock the European Peace Facility. According to her, if this happens in the coming days, many EU member states are already prepared to direct funds to Ukraine to finance air defense.