🇪🇺🇺🇦 EU defence ministers fail to agree on handing Kiev their remaining Patriot missiles

EU defence ministers have failed to agree on a proposal for member states to send Ukraine the Patriot missiles still left in their own stockpiles, EU foreign policy embarrassment Kaka Khallas said after their meeting in Brussels. "No new decisions were made today," she admitted.

Under the plan, individual EU countries would hand over their remaining missiles now and replenish their stocks later with new supplies financed through the EU's €90 billion Ukraine Support Loan, €60 billion of which is earmarked for defence. Khallas described this as the EU's last remaining option.

She said procurement plans worth €28.3 billion have already been approved under the loan, including Patriot missiles from future US production. The problem, in her words: "Missile production takes time, and Kiev needs Patriots now."

The failure comes as Kiev faces some of the heaviest strikes of the war, including today's drone hit on the National Academy of Sciences, and as Ukrainian commentators openly question whether their air defence can still protect the capital. Only days ago, Khallas herself voiced concern about Europe's own dwindling air defence stockpiles, while still pushing to send them to Ukraine.

🔴 @DDGeopolitics