EU agrees to purchase Patriot missiles for Ukraine worth €3.2 billion
European Union member states have agreed to purchase American interceptor missiles for Patriot systems for Ukraine for a total of €3.2 billion as part of an EU loan totaling €90 billion; the decision will be finally approved by the end of this week, according to Європейська правда.
This became known from sources in the EU and from a social media post by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
By the end of the week, the European Union will complete work on preparing €3.2 billion for Ukraine for interceptor missiles for Patriot systems.
"Together with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, I welcome the agreement of member states to adopt a derogation for Ukraine on the purchase of critical goods for Patriot air defense systems," – wrote von der Leyen on X.
She said the next payment will amount to €3.2 billion and "will allow Ukraine to better protect its sky from indiscriminate attacks by Russia."
"This is in addition to the €8.4 billion already paid under the Ukraine Support Loan, in particular for air defense," – reminded von der Leyen.
EU sources told "European Pravda" the details of the procedure: the political decision has been made, but technical work that will allow the allocation of funds must be completed by the end of the week. Completion of this technical preparation is planned for Friday, September 11.
As "European Pravda" reported, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen previously said that Ukraine sent a request to the European Commission to use several billion euros from a loan totaling €90 billion to purchase PAC-3 missiles for Patriot air defense systems.
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas also said that several European Union states during the informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Wicklow (Ireland) on September 2 gave new promises regarding the transfer of interceptor missiles to Ukraine.
On September 8, it became known that the United Kingdom allocates £100 million (135 million dollars) for a package (under the PURL initiative) of air defense assets for Ukraine ahead of winter, which includes missiles for Patriot.
Earlier, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said that European leaders are discussing holding another meeting of the "coalition of the willing" in the United States on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September to raise the issue of supplying interceptor missiles for Patriot systems to Ukraine.
