As reported by the UNIAN correspondent, Ukrainian Defense Minister Yevhen Khmara made this statement for the first time while participating in the Ukrainian Defense Contact Group meeting (“Ramstein-36”), which is being held remotely.
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Y. Khmara noted that on the night of September 8, the enemy launched another massive air attack, during which cruise and ballistic missiles as well as “Shahed” jet drones were fired.
“Our air defense, among other things, managed to intercept 31 out of 32 cruise missiles. However, the situation with ballistic missiles is much more complicated. This complexity is precisely due to the lack of ‘Patriot’ missiles,” emphasized Y. Khmara.
According to him, Russia knows this and is trying to exhaust Ukraine’s air defense, economy, and society.
Moreover, he stated that air defense solutions are necessary to ensure Ukraine’s resilience.
“With the help of our partners and using the EU loan, we are concluding contracts for about a thousand ‘Patriot’ missiles. And once again, we are grateful to you for that,” emphasized Y. Khmara.
However, as the minister explained, the majority of these missiles will be delivered only over the next several years.
“Therefore, we ask you today to transfer missiles from your stocks to us in exchange for future improved missiles under our concluded contracts,” emphasized Y. Khmara.
He also highlighted the importance of supplying “air-to-air” missiles to Ukraine and measures to combat jet drones and cruise missiles.
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Urgent need for additional funding for defense development
As emphasized by the Ukrainian Defense Minister, it is already necessary to make financial decisions required to support Ukraine.
He recalled that during this year’s NATO summit in Ankara, Ukraine was promised 70 billion euros in security assistance.
“Now we see that our partners are already allocating 62 billion euros, including bilateral aid and the EU loan. We thank you for that,” said Y. Khmara.
However, Ukraine still needs an additional 8 billion euros.
He also noted that the total defense budget deficit currently amounts to 23 billion euros (or 27 billion US dollars). These funds would allow financing drone production and ensuring their stable supply this year and early next year.
“Up to 90% of our success on the battlefield depends on drones. I ask you to make the necessary financial decisions by November so that we can see results on the battlefield this winter,” emphasized Y. Khmara.
Lack of “Patriot” missile interceptors
As previously reported by UNIAN, Ukraine needs missile interceptors for “Patriot” systems. To solve this problem, it is necessary to allocate European Union funds to purchase US-made weapons and encourage Spain and Greece, which have the largest stocks of missile interceptors needed by Ukraine in Europe, to transfer them to Ukraine.
However, Spain and Greece have stocks of older PAC-2 missile interceptors. These missiles are less effective against ballistic threats than the newer PAC-3 MSE.
At the same time, Spain’s Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares recently assured that his country will continue to supply missiles for “Patriot” systems to Ukraine.
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