Today, 8 September, it emerged that the European Union has agreed to an exemption for Ukraine and is allocating $3.5 billion for the air defence of our country.
This was reported on their pages on the social network X by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
“Together with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, I welcome the agreement by EU member states on an exemption for Ukraine that will allow it to procure critical items for Patriot air defence systems. The next tranche of $3.5 billion will help Ukraine better protect its skies from Russia’s indiscriminate attacks,” Rutte wrote.
Von der Leyen added that this is in addition to the €8.4 billion already allocated under the loan to support Ukraine, including for air defence.
Together with @SecGenNATO Rutte, I welcome the agreement by Member States on the derogation for Ukraine to purchase crucial products for Patriot air defence systems.
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) September 8, 2026
The next disbursement of €3.2 billion will enable Ukraine to better protect its skies from Russia’s…
Over the past year, NATO allies have allocated more than $10 billion for procurement under PURL and the US military equipment sales programme for Ukraine.
- The European Commission approved Ukraine’s application to purchase interceptor missiles for Patriot air defence systems using funds from the EU’s €90 billion loan.
- Ukraine submitted the relevant request on 3 September under the Ukraine Support Loan programme. Kyiv asked for more than €2 billion to purchase interceptor missiles for Patriot systems.
- Earlier, the European Commission said it would consider Ukraine’s request as quickly as possible.
- Ukraine also has agreements with the United States for monthly deliveries of interceptor missiles for Patriot. President Zelenskyy stressed the shortage of such missiles and noted that, to get through the winter period, Ukraine needs to receive at least about 5% of US production of these munitions.