Ukraine asks EU to fund first Patriot missiles buy

KYIV, Ukraine — The European Union is reviewing Kyiv’s request to spend billions of euros on PAC-3 interceptor missiles for its Patriot batteries — the first time Ukraine has formally asked to tap a €90 billion support loan approved earlier this year to buy the U.S.-made systems, European officials announced this week.

“We will keep supporting Ukraine, including with European air defence and PAC-3 Patriot systems,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote on X on Sept. 2, confirming the request alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. “We will work closer than ever with NATO. And deter anyone who attacks our freedom and security.”

The statement comes a day after Ukraine’s defense minister, Yevhenii Khmara, pressed allies for more aid. Russia is continuing a second week of launching near-nonstop aerial strikes on Kyiv, Odesa and other cities as Ukraine faces a dire antiballistics interceptor shortage .

“Ukraine calls on partners to allocate national budget funds for the procurement of Ukrainian drones, expedite the provision of the EU loan, and resume discussions on the use of frozen Russian assets,” Khmara said in a statement .

He said Ukraine currently faces a $27 billion defense budget deficit, but emphasized that supporting Kyiv is a “win-win” for Europe.

“Every euro invested in Ukraine’s defence is an investment in European security,” he said.

The €90 billion loan Kyiv hopes to tap into — finalized by the Council of the EU in April after months of delay — sets aside roughly €60 billion for defense procurement and €30 billion for budget support.

But the loan’s rules were written to prioritize European and Ukrainian-made weapons, capping non-EU/Ukrainian content at 35% of a given purchase’s value.

Because PAC-3s are built in the U.S., Kyiv’s request needs to receive a formal exemption to access the funds.

Ukraine already secured a similar carve-out in April for Chinese-made drone components, a precedent officials are pointing to as EU member states weigh the latest request.

Von der Leyen said in her Sept. 2 statement that the exemption review “is moving in the right direction,” and that EU representatives were due to decide on the exemption on Monday.

乌克兰基辅——欧盟正在审查基辅提出的花费数十亿欧元为其“爱国者”导弹系统购买PAC-3拦截导弹的请求。欧盟官员本周宣布，这是乌克兰首次正式请求动用今年早些时候批准的900亿欧元援助贷款来购买美国制造的导弹系统。

欧盟委员会主席乌尔苏拉·冯德莱恩9月2日在X网站上发文确认了这一请求，她表示：“我们将继续支持乌克兰，包括提供欧洲防空系统和PAC-3爱国者导弹系统。我们将与北约秘书长马克·吕特一道，比以往任何时候都更加紧密地与北约合作，并遏制任何攻击我们自由和安全的人。”

就在乌克兰国防部长叶夫根尼·赫马拉敦促盟友提供更多援助的第二天，俄罗斯发表了上述声明。由于乌克兰面临严重的反弹道导弹短缺，俄罗斯已连续第二周对基辅、敖德萨和其他城市发动近乎不间断的空袭。

“乌克兰呼吁合作伙伴拨出国家预算资金用于采购乌克兰无人机，加快欧盟贷款的发放，并恢复关于使用被冻结的俄罗斯资产的讨论，”赫马拉在一份声明中说。

他表示，乌克兰目前面临 270 亿美元的国防预算赤字，但他强调，支持基辅对欧洲来说是“双赢”。

他说：“投资于乌克兰国防的每一欧元都是对欧洲安全的投资。”

基辅希望获得的900亿欧元贷款——在欧盟理事会经过数月拖延后于4月最终敲定——其中约600亿欧元用于国防采购，300亿欧元用于预算支持。

但贷款规则规定优先考虑欧洲和乌克兰制造的武器，将非欧盟/乌克兰制造的武器含量限制在购买价值的 35% 以内。

由于 PAC-3 是在美国制造的，基辅的请求需要获得正式豁免才能获得资金。

今年 4 月，乌克兰已获得类似的豁免，允许进口中国制造的无人机部件。欧盟成员国正在权衡乌克兰的最新请求，官员们正以此为先例。

冯德莱恩在9月2日的声明中表示，豁免审查“正朝着正确的方向发展”，欧盟代表将于周一就豁免事宜做出决定。