Kallas urges EU countries to give Ukraine air defence missiles

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has called on European Union countries to hand over air defence missiles from their existing stockpiles to Ukraine. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Sputnik Kazakhstan.

According to her, those countries' stockpiles could later be replenished with newly produced missiles.

Kallas's statement

"Some countries have these missiles. So we call on them to hand them over now, and later new ones can be produced," Kallas told journalists ahead of a meeting of EU defence ministers in Brussels.

According to her, Ukraine badly needs air defence assets.

"Ukraine urgently needs air defence systems. We again call on countries that have such assets in their stockpiles to hand them over to Ukraine. Patriot missiles produced later can replenish their stockpiles," the EU foreign policy chief said.

European Commission decision

On 11 September, the European Commission approved a decision to allocate 6.1 billion euros to Ukraine for the purchase of weapons, including air and missile defence assets.

This decision will allow Kyiv to buy American PAC-3 missiles for Patriot systems using an EU loan.