EU ministers stop short of Patriot pledges for Ukraine

A Ukrainian serviceman from anti-drone mobile air defence unit fires a Browning machine gun at his position during combat, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Chernihiv region, Ukraine March 28, 2024. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich/File Photo

By Andrew Gray

LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) -European Union ministers said on Monday they were looking urgently at how to provide more air defences to Ukraine but they stopped short of concrete pledges of the Patriot systems that Kyiv values most.

FILE PHOTO: European?Union?flags fly outside the?European?Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, March 1, 2023.REUTERS/Johanna Geron/File Photo

Since Kyiv began a push for more Patriots in recent weeks, Germany has been the only EU country to pledge an extra battery.

Other European countries including Greece, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Spain and Sweden also have Patriot systems.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell expressed frustration at the lack of additional pledges, saying he was trying to “make everybody understand and be aware” of the need to do more to help Kyiv.

“I don’t have Patriots in Brussels, the Patriots are in the capitals. And it’s up to them to take the decisions,” Borrell said after the meeting.

With Russia having stepped up air attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and cities, EU governments are under pressure to supply more protective systems to Kyiv.

The EU ministers said the U.S. House of Representatives vote to approve a $60 billion Ukraine package on Saturday should not lead to any complacency on their part.

But countries that have U.S.-made Patriots – which Ukraine already uses and values highly for their ability to shoot down fast-moving ballistic missiles – were non-committal on Monday.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said last week that Ukraine needs at least seven Patriot or other high-end air defence systems to counter Russian air strikes.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said after the EU ministers’ meeting on Monday that Kyiv is in talks with individual allies on the supply of four Patriot batteries.

“Negotiations are underway between us and the relevant countries and the USA”, Kuleba told the national broadcaster, without naming the countries.

Officials say it is hard to part with Patriots as they are an integral part of national defences.

Swedish Defence Minister Pal Jonson said Stockholm had already agreed to give air defence weapons, including the RBS 70 portable system.

Asked if Sweden would also provide Patriots, he said: “I don’t exclude that possibility but right now we’re focused on a financial contribution but also possibly (more) RBS 70 because that could alleviate some of the pressure on the Patriots.”

Greece has long resisted sending larger-scale defence systems or jets to Ukraine, mainly because of its own tensions with Turkey, although it has sent arms and ammunition.

Asked if Greece was planning to send S-300 surface-to-air missile systems to Ukraine, government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis said in Athens: “There won’t be any move that would even minimally endanger the country’s deterrent capability or air defence.”

Dutch Defence Minister Kajsa Ollongren said the so-called Ramstein group of countries that supply military aid to Ukraine would meet at the end of the week. That meeting would provide another opportunity for governments to announce pledges.

(Additional reporting by Bart H. Meijer, Tassilo Hummel, Sabine Siebold, Inti Landauro, Lefteris Papadimas and Renee Maltezou, Oleksander Kozhukhar and Lidia Kelly; Writing by Adrew Gray and Ingrid Melander; Editing by Angus MacSwan, Gareth Jones and Jonathan Oatis)