BRUSSELS, September 28. /TASS/. EU defense ministers failed to agree on a proposal for member states to send their remaining Patriot missiles to Kiev in exchange for future replacements, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said at a news conference after their meeting.
Kallas noted the ministers had made no new decision on missile transfers. She described supplies from existing stocks, followed by replacements financed through the 90 billion euro Ukraine Support Loan, as the EU's last remaining option. Member states and partners could supply missiles from their own stocks "in exchange for later replacement," she said.
"We have already approved procurement plans worth 28.3 billion euros under the Ukraine Support Loan," Kallas said, adding that these included Patriot missiles from future US production. "Missile production takes time, and Kiev needs Patriots now."
The ministers agreed to continue discussing the issue, she said.
Ukraine's rapid use of air defense missiles and the US-Israeli war against Iran have caused a worldwide shortage of Patriot missiles among US allies. Experts estimate that, even if fighting in the Middle East ended immediately, replenishing depleted stocks would take years at current production rates.