European armies struggle to deploy seven Patriot batteries in Ukraine despite 100 in stock – Borrell
Josep Borrell. Photo: Kristin Olsson/TT News Agency via Reuters
The European Union is not doing enough to protect Ukraine from attempts by the Russian Federation to destroy Ukrainian cities with missiles and guided bombs. Therefore, the EU should urgently provide Kyiv with more air defense equipment and ammunition.
EU High Representative Josep Borrell stated this during a speech at the European forum Nueva Economia Forum.
"I spoke with the Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba some days ago, and he is desperately asking for seven Patriot batteries to protect his country.
It should be inconceivable that we were not able to provide them, given that the Western armies have about 100 batteries of Patriot. And still, we are not able to give the seven they are asking desperately for," the European diplomat emphasized.
Borrell noted that the European Union should pay more attention not only to the future restoration of Ukraine, but also to how to prevent its destruction now.
Because the best way to spend less on recovery is to spend more on preventing destruction.
"Ukrainians do not have the capacity to avoid destruction because, frankly, we should be doing more and faster so that they have the capacity they need," said a senior EU representative.
According to Borrell, the second problem, regarding the supply of ammunition, needs to be resolved regarding the ability of the European defense industry to produce more and create institutional capabilities to achieve such a result. Historically, European defense has never been built based on any single supranational plan, and it still remains the authority of the EU member states.
"We have to face the two problems that we have. One is a problem of expenditure, of money, of resources, of finance. And then we have a problem of collective action: how do we manage, how do we organise our collective action? We have a problem of expenditure because we have neglected defense and security issues since the euro crisis," the diplomat noted.
The high representative of the EU recalled that during the past weeks, he called on the ministers of foreign affairs and defense ministers of European countries to provide Ukraine with more means of air defense so that it could stop Russian missiles and guided bombs, which the Russians are using to destroy Ukrainian cities and their infrastructure.
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For reference:
As reported, the systems of the Patriot anti-aircraft missile complex successfully repel ballistic missiles of the Russian Federation, which could cause massive losses and destruction.
It is noteworthy that Germany, the Netherlands, Romania, and Spain will jointly purchase about 1,000 missiles for the Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems.
It is worth adding that on April 4 in Brussels, during the meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Council at the headquarters of the North Atlantic Alliance, Germany initiated the search for available Patriot air defense systems for Ukraine's armed forces.
