EP "forces" European Council to provide Patriot aid to Ukraine, two EU members tell Kiev directly "it is not possible"

On April 11, at a plenary session in Brussels, Belgium, the European Parliament (EP) refused to approve the budget for the Council of Europe until the Council provided Ukraine with additional Patriot air defense systems.

The European Parliament argues that European countries must provide Patriot missile systems to Ukraine (Source: US Army).

According to The Kyiv Independent , Belgian MP Guy Verhofstadt proposed removing the budget approval topic from the agenda. He emphasized that European countries should first support Ukraine by finding and supplying Kyiv with seven Patriot missile systems.

Mr. Verhofstadt's proposal received strong support from 515 MEPs. However, the proposal was postponed until the next session.

Despite the pressure, on the same day, in a joint press conference with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, the presidents of Gitanas Nauseda (Lithuania) and Andrzej Duda (Poland) stated that they could not transfer any Patriot systems to Kyiv.

According to the Polish news agency PAP , when asked why the European Union (EU) could not transfer 5-7 of the 100 Patriot systems it possesses to Ukraine, Mr. Duda replied: "Poland does not currently have Patriot systems. We have only just begun installing them."

The leader stated: "In reality, we are currently unable to transfer anything, even if we wanted to."

According to President Duda, the Patriot systems deployed in the country belong to the US military, and he noted that, among all of Ukraine's neighbors, a "Russian missile" is believed to have landed in Poland, so his country is under threat.

Meanwhile, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda reiterated that the country does not possess any Patriot systems, and that a battery of this air defense system from the Netherlands will be temporarily deployed in the country for training purposes.

He noted that Western countries are finding it increasingly difficult to supply Ukraine with air defense systems and missiles. Europe itself is currently not receiving sufficient supplies of these weapons.

Earlier, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called for a review of the availability of Patriot missile defense systems in Europe and around the world , as Berlin's reserves for delivery to Kyiv were nearly depleted. She acknowledged that the Ukrainian army had run out of ammunition for most of its air defense systems.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/ep-ep-hoi-dong-chau-au-vien-tro-patriot-cho-ukraine-hai-thanh-vien-eu-noi-thang-voi-kiev-khong-co-kha-nang-267635.html