EU seeks ways to shield Ukraine’s air defence supplies from Iran crisis

Andrius Kubilius, the European Commissioner for Defence and Space, said the European Union is developing measures to minimise the impact of Middle East events on air defence deliveries to Ukraine.

Kubilius made the remarks in an interview with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

The commissioner acknowledged that developments around Iran could affect global missile supplies for air defence systems and cause delays in deliveries to Ukraine.

“This is certainly a cause for concern for us as well, since missiles for air defence systems are now being actively used by the armed forces of the United States, Israel, Arab countries and others,” he noted.

He added that the annual production of American Patriot missiles is limited to roughly 700 units.

“This raises the question of how to ensure that supplies to Ukraine are not affected. This is one of the strategic issues we are currently considering,” Kubilius said.

He also announced that he will start a so-called “missile tour” this week, meeting with European manufacturers to accelerate the transfer of missiles to Ukraine.

Kubilius pointed out that Europe does not manufacture Patriot missiles, complicating a rapid solution to the problem.