The EU commented on Zelensky's statements about the shortage of interceptor missiles

The European Commission responded to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's statement that Ukraine is currently receiving three times fewer interceptor missiles than before. This was stated by European Commission spokesperson Balazs Ujvari, according to Європейська правда.

As the EC representative noted, this year the EU has already allocated €8.5 billion to Ukraine for defense purposes.

These funds will be used for: fighter jets, missiles, drones of various types – both short-range and long-range.

At the same time, Ujvari emphasized that Ukraine determines its own needs and provides a so-called list of required equipment.

"We study this list and act on its basis. It is quite possible that Ukraine may, for example, request interceptors or related equipment, and then we can consider this matter; thus, information exchange continues, equipment lists keep coming in, contracts keep being signed. We review them extremely quickly, and then make the corresponding payments", – he noted.

Ujvari added that Ukraine can request funding for the procurement of interceptor missiles and other equipment, even if they are produced outside the EU.

"Ukraine must determine what exactly it needs, that is, it has full freedom to choose essentially any equipment. Of course, the main goal is to consider weapons produced in the EU and Ukraine, but if for some reason there is a need for exceptions and considering the situation in a broader global context – this is also a possibility provided for by the relevant regulations, so we can take such scenarios into account", – he said.

According to the European Commission representative, there "will be no summer vacation" in the matter of allocating defense funding to Ukraine.

"We are working at full capacity day and night, to achieve maximum progress as quickly as possible", – he summarized.

In this context, it is worth recalling that on July 30, the European Commission disbursed an additional €3.47 billion to Ukraine as part of the defense portion of the €90 billion loan.

The European Commission announced that Ukraine can expect at least one new "defense tranche" in August.