NATO secretary general urges EU to transfer interceptor missiles from reserves to Ukraine

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has said that certain EU countries hold significant stocks of interceptor missiles for air defence systems and can transfer them to Ukraine.

Source: Rutte at the European Parliament International Committee meeting in Brussels, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Rutte urged European states to transfer air defence interceptor missiles stored in their arsenals to Ukraine.

Quote: "You know which country is in this room. And I could discreetly inform you, but not in the open session, who are sitting on large piles of interceptors. The Supreme Allied Commander has said that he totally accepts that a lot of that stuff will now move into Ukraine because that is now clearly the priority."

Details: Rutte drew the attention of MEPs to the fact that "each night now about 15 to 20 missiles are sent into Kyiv, Lviv, Kharkiv and other big population centres in Ukraine, and hundreds of drones".

"The interception rate has come down because some of the NASAMS systems now in Ukraine do not have enough interceptors to fight back. And also the Patriot systems, of course, need a constant supply of PEC missiles for them to intercept these missiles," the NATO secretary general stated.

He noted that there are two ways to cover this deficit: the first is Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) packages from the US, because a significant part of this initiative consists precisely of interceptors for NASAMS and Patriot systems, and the second is "what you have in your own national stockpiles".

"Wherever you can help to put some pressure on your governments to do that. Some governments are already doing it," the NATO chief told members of the European Parliament.

"I'm constantly working with your leaders. Please help me as parliamentarians to work with your leaders," he added.

Rutte stressed that this is "the difference between life and death" every day, as well as a matter of protecting Ukraine's critical infrastructure, particularly energy infrastructure.

Background:

• On 26 January, Rutte also urged the EU to move away from the "buy European" rule in arms procurement for Ukraine.
• On 20 January, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was concerned that deepening confrontation between the United States and European countries would undermine Ukraine's air defence capabilities.
• Meanwhile, Zelenskyy announced that a total of 24 countries have joined NATO's PURL initiative, through which countries can purchase US-made weapons for Ukraine.
• It was also reported that the Pentagon has concluded an agreement to triple production of Patriot missiles.

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