European leaders may agree to provide Patriot missiles to Ukraine — Bloomberg
In September, European leaders plan to hold talks in the U.S. to secure the transfer of additional Patriot interceptor missiles to Ukraine. British Prime Minister Andy Burnham intends to persuade Donald Trump to grant Kyiv access to part of the U.S. stockpile.
The British prime minister stated that he plans to travel to New York in September. One of the main goals of the trip will be to strengthen Ukraine’s air and missile defenses ahead of winter.
“I’m looking forward to my trip to New York in September. I haven’t finalized all the details yet, but I will most likely go, especially after today’s discussion. As I leave today, I know exactly what I need to do in the coming weeks,” Bernham said.
The statement came during Burnham’s first international visit since taking office as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. On August 24, he arrived in Ukraine, where he chaired a meeting of the “coalition of the willing” and held a bilateral meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
After the talks, Bernham stated that he was leaving Ukraine with a sense of “truly great optimism.” According to him, Ukraine’s current difficulties in defending against Russian ballistic missiles—caused by low stockpiles of missiles for air defense systems—can be resolved.
One possible mechanism would be a new meeting of the “coalition of the willing” on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. European leaders are considering using this meeting to negotiate the supply of American interceptor missiles and other missile defense systems from other countries.
“This is likely the most probable course of events. It hasn’t been confirmed yet, but it seems that most people are leaning toward this,” Bernham said.
At the same time, the United Kingdom does not use the Patriot missiles that Ukraine currently needs. Therefore, according to Bernham, other European countries should become more actively involved in ensuring Ukraine’s air defense.
“There are other players who could help, and over whom we have influence. This will likely be a decision that requires many levels of discussion and negotiations,” the British prime minister told Bloomberg.
As a reminder, Ukraine faces a shortage not only of Patriot missiles but also of other ground-based air defense systems.
Ukraine is trying to secure 300 missiles for the Patriot systems, which are needed to defend against Russian ballistic strikes this winter. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the Air Force’s request is even greater—360 missiles—but securing that many is currently difficult due to limited production capacity.
Ukraine is facing an acute shortage of interceptor missiles for the American Patriot systems. According to CNN, ammunition stocks for these systems have been virtually depleted amid constant Russian attacks.
