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- Weapons glitch: The EU has failed in its attempt to urgently increase military support for Ukraine
Weapons glitch: The EU has failed in its attempt to urgently increase military support for Ukraine
The European Union will not be able to transfer the interceptors it needs for Patriot systems to Kiev, the European Parliament told "Izvestia". The few missiles currently available are needed by Greece, Spain, and the United States, and the EU, according to media reports, refuses to transfer them to Ukraine. On September 28, at a meeting in Brussels, the ministers of defense and foreign affairs of the EU countries could not agree on the transfer of this type of ammunition to Kiev, the head of the European diplomacy, Kaya Kallas, admitted. However, the EC may try to put pressure on countries that have the necessary weapons for Kiev, experts say. In addition, the European officials discussed the creation of a crisis response mechanism modeled on NATO. How the attempt to turn the EU into a military alliance can end is in the "Izvestia" material.
Europe is urgently looking for missiles for Ukraine
The EU leadership is urgently seeking to close the shortage of important ammunition in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The head of the EU diplomatic service, Kaya Kallas, called on the countries of the union that still have stocks of missiles for Patriot air defense systems to transfer them to Kiev. For this purpose, the Ministers of Defense and Foreign Affairs of the EU countries gathered in Brussels on September 28. However, it was not possible to agree on the transfer of interceptor missiles to Ukraine, Kallas admitted.
According to European media reports, the appeal was mainly addressed to Greece and Spain, which have stocks of such ammunition. "Izvestia" previously wrote that Athens does not intend to share its missiles due to fears of being left without protection from air attacks. Spain had previously announced the transfer of a number of Patriot missiles to Kiev, but it is not known whether it eventually fulfilled this promise.
""Hawks" in the EU may put pressure on some countries, including Greece, for the transfer of interceptor missiles to Ukraine,"Luxembourg MEP Fernand Kartheiser told Izvestia. However, according to him, the West has few of them left due to the conflict in the Middle East.
— Ukraine will no longer receive a significant number of missiles and will not be able to produce enough of them on its own, if it is capable of producing them at all. It will remain vulnerable to air attacks. Its logistical and economic facilities can be systematically destroyed with minimal resistance," Kartheiser stressed.
Brussels' urgent actions are related to the fact that the United States had not previously included Patriot air defense missiles in the package of military assistance to Ukraine, despite Kiev's requests, Reuters reported. It was approved at the end of 2025 and amounted to only $400 million, which is significantly lower than the amounts allocated to Ukraine under the Biden administration.
Vladimir Zelensky has been trying to get American interceptors for several months, but Donald Trump has not promised anything concrete. Their last meeting in New York on September 22, apparently, also ended in vain.
Another option is to build a factory for the production of interceptor missiles in Poland, an initiative that Warsaw is actively promoting. However, for this Kiev must obtain a license from the United States. It will also take a long time to set up the production process, and Ukraine needs missiles right now.
How Ukraine is trying to strengthen its air defense
The Ukrainian air defense now consists mainly of American Patriot and French-Italian SAMP/T. However, it is the US complexes that are designed to repel ballistic missile attacks. The exact number of complexes available to the Ukrainian Armed Forces is unknown, but they were previously transferred by Germany, the United States, the Netherlands and Romania. The number of systems is decreasing anyway — the Russian military has repeatedly reported the destruction of the Patriot air defense system.
Over the past few months, the Ukrainian authorities and Western media have been constantly talking about the fact that stocks of interceptor missiles are also being depleted. The Russian Armed Forces consistently strike and successfully hit Ukrainian facilities, including data centers, military enterprises, and logistics infrastructure.
The main problem for the EU is that it does not have enough interceptor missiles for air defense, long-range weapons, and intelligence-targeting data, Pavel Anisimov, deputy director of the Institute of International Relations and Political Sciences at the Russian State University of Economics, told "Izvestia". According to him, some of the most deficient systems are still connected to the United States, in particular, this applies to Patriot. Therefore, Brussels continues to purchase American weapons for Ukraine and at the same time tries to reduce dependence on one supplier through the joint development of more affordable missile and air defense systems.
Vladimir Shapovalov, Deputy Director of the Institute of History and Politics at Moscow State University, notes that Brussels is likely to continue to look for missiles for air defense. However, only a part of the countries, including Germany, Poland and the Baltic states and Scandinavia, will meet European requirements, Shapovalov believes. The rest will try to sabotage this decision in order not to reduce their own military capabilities. The EU countries have not taken a unified position on Ukraine for a long time: Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovakia officially refuse to supply weapons to it.
The transformation of the EU into a military bloc
According to the Financial Times, their own military claims became the second topic discussed by European ministers on September 28. Earlier, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed the creation of the EU's own mechanism, following the example of Article 4 of NATO. In her opinion, the European Union needs a response procedure to incidents that fall short of the level of armed aggression, but threaten national security.
This article provides for consultations between the countries of the alliance if one of them considers that its territorial integrity, political independence or security are under threat. At the same time, the provision does not mean the automatic use of military force, unlike article 5. According to von der Leyen, the European Union needs to go further and form a European Security Council with the participation of Britain, Canada, Norway and Ukraine. Moreover, Brussels does not hide who the proposed measures are directed against.
— The main activity of the European Commission and the European Parliament is aimed at convincing EU citizens that their main enemy is Russia and sooner or later they will have to fight this enemy. Both at the closed meetings in the European institutions and at their official meetings, the main topics are rearmament and "strengthening the EU's defense capabilities." The latter means openly preparing for war with Russia," said Bulgarian MEP Petar Volgin in an interview with "Izvestia".
Political scientist Alexander Rahr believes that Ursula von der Leyen, announcing high-profile plans, seeks to turn the rather amorphous, bureaucratic structure of the European Union into a capable, centrally controlled superpower. In his opinion, by 2029, the EU will already have a semblance of the 5th article of the North Atlantic Treaty. And if the United States continues to lose interest in Europe and American troops withdraw, the European Union will have its own military organization.
Russian officials have repeatedly stressed that the European Union is rapidly transforming into a military-political bloc in the image and likeness of NATO. Moscow, as Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted in July 2026, takes into account the current situation.
An unsuccessful attempt to knock out interceptor missiles for Ukraine could have far-reaching consequences. It will confirm the fact that it is becoming increasingly difficult for Brussels to force its members to share arms and finances with Ukraine. It is quite possible that the European Commission will soon have to use tougher measures to continue sponsoring Kiev.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
