During an informal meeting of EU defence ministers in Ireland on September 1, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas will renew her call for member states that have anti-ballistic missile interceptors in their stockpiles to provide them to Ukraine.
Kallas made the statement while speaking to the press ahead of the meeting.
“July and August were the deadliest months for civilians in Ukraine. Russia is really escalating to inflict as much damage as possible on the people of Ukraine, to break them. Ukrainians, of course, remain strong. And we have to support them. The key issue is air defence,” she said.
“They lack interceptor missiles. We know that some countries have interceptor missiles that are nearing the end of their shelf life, so it would be very good if these were given to Ukraine so that they could use them to protect their people,” the EU High Representative said.
She added that the EU is also discussing the issue with countries outside the European Union, although the talks remain difficult.
“At the same time, of course, work is also underway to develop European interceptor missiles together with Ukraine,” Kallas concluded.
