Kyiv: Zelensky confirms EU's five billion air defence package
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that the EU's five billion euro air defence package has entered operational phase, with the first IRIS-T deliveries expected in July.
- Zelensky confirmed the EU's five billion euro package has entered operational phase.
- The first IRIS-T systems are expected in July, the rest delivered by year end.
- Kallas announced an additional two billion euro package for ammunition in the autumn.
- Berlin is coordinating procurement with German manufacturer Diehl Defence.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed on Wednesday evening that the European Union’s five billion euro air defence package for Ukraine has entered operational phase. The package, presented on Tuesday by EU High Representative Kaja Kallas, covers the delivery of IRIS-T systems, Patriot components and radar platforms for the detection of short range projectiles.
Operational phase, according to a briefing by the office of the Ukrainian President, means that the Commission has approved concrete contracts with manufacturers and that the first systems will arrive in Kyiv in July. For Serbia, which holds an official line of neutrality on the war and does not join Brussels’ sanctions packages, the EU package shows how Europe is positioning itself as an independent actor on the Ukraine file.
Package structure and delivery schedule
The five billion euro package covers three components. The first, worth two billion two hundred million euros, covers the German IRIS-T SLM and IRIS-T SLS systems, produced by Diehl Defence in Ueberlingen. The second component, worth one billion eight hundred million euros, covers Patriot components and ammunition, with Lockheed Martin and Raytheon as the main suppliers through European licensed production lines.
The third component, worth one billion euros, covers radar systems and a computer platform for integrating the different systems into a single air defence network. Berlin is coordinating the technical side of procurement, while Paris is leading talks with French manufacturers on involvement in the third component.
The five billion euro package is a turning point in the support Europe is providing to Ukraine, a decision that changes the picture of the battlefield in the autumn campaign, Zelensky said in his evening address from Kyiv.
Response from European institutions
EU High Representative Kaja Kallas announced in Brussels on Tuesday that an additional two billion euro package for ammunition is in preparation, to be presented to the Foreign Affairs Council in September. The package covers 155 millimetre artillery ammunition and components for unmanned aerial systems.
Diplomatic activity around the package includes:
- consultations between Kallas and Merz in Berlin on the inclusion of French producers
- talks between Merz and Scholz on Wednesday about Belgium’s role in the third component
- preparation of a joint non-paper by Paris, Berlin and Rome for the June Council
- consultations with Norway on a parallel four hundred million euro package
- talks with the Czech Republic on ammunition made in Czech factories
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday that in the June package of measures Brussels will present a new instrument for joint financing of military equipment purchases. The instrument, with the working title EDIRPA Plus, would cover a mechanism of the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
Position of Moscow and Kyiv’s response
The Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow said on Wednesday evening that Russia “regards the delivery of Western military equipment to Ukraine as a serious breach of European security”. Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova announced that Moscow would take “asymmetric measures” in response, without further detail.
Kyiv has recorded over the past seven days one of the most severe attacks since the start of the invasion, with six hundred ninety missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles fired by Russia at the city and surrounding area. Eighty seven people have been injured in the capital, according to data from Mayor Vitali Klitschko. Patriot and IRIS-T air defence systems currently in service have intercepted around seventy percent of the projectiles.
Implications for Serbia and the region
Belgrade has issued no official reaction on developments in the Ukraine file. The Serbian Foreign Ministry maintains its line on “the need for a peaceful solution”, without direct comment on the EU package. Serbia signed a cooperation programme with Russia in May running until 2031, which further complicates its position in the Brussels context.
The wider Western Balkans region, except Serbia, consistently aligns with EU decisions on the Ukraine file. Montenegro, North Macedonia and Albania have signed all the sanctions packages, while Bosnia and Herzegovina is divided between its entity positions. Kosovo donated one million euros in March for the reconstruction of Ukrainian infrastructure.
What comes after the first deliveries
The first IRIS-T systems are expected to reach Kyiv in the first week of July, with complete installations at three defence sites around the capital. Full delivery of the package is expected by year end, focused on protecting energy infrastructure ahead of the winter season.
The next key date on the Ukraine file is the European Council summit in Brussels on June 26 and 27, which will consider the new joint financing instrument. Before that, the NATO summit in The Hague on July 16 and 17 is expected to produce the political framework for the alliance’s role on the Kyiv support file.
Will the first IRIS-T systems arrive before Russia’s new summer campaign of strikes on Kyiv, and will the five billion euro package shift the air balance enough ahead of the winter season?
