European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen confirmed at a briefing in Brussels that Kyiv has submitted a new request for disbursement under the Ukraine support credit line. According to her, the amount is "several billion euros," which is intended to cover air defense expenditures, primarily the purchase of highly effective PAC-3 air-defense missiles for Patriot systems. The statements came as EU member states are already reviewing the request, and, as the EC head emphasized, the process is "moving in the right direction."

The PAC-3 Request: What the European Commission Confirmed

As reported by RBC-Ukraine citing "European Truth," the Ukrainian side has officially sent the European Commission a request to use part of the credit funds specifically for air defense needs. Von der Leyen directly named the intended purpose: "It amounts to several billion euros and is meant to cover Ukraine's air defense expenditures, including highly effective PAC-3 air defense systems." Thus, this is not new financial aid, but the redirection of an already agreed-upon credit resource toward a specific defense procurement.

The Mechanics of the €90 Billion Loan and Funds Already Allocated

The European Commission head reminded that the €90 billion credit line in support of Ukraine is already operational. According to her data, since June, €8.5 billion has been allocated under this instrument for unmanned aerial vehicles and missiles, as well as for the purchase of fighter jets in European industry. Recall that the EU previously announced the first tranche of the loan for 2026–2027: €30 billion is allocated for macrofinancial assistance, and another €60 billion for defense needs. It is essentially from this defense pool that the request for Patriot missiles is being formed.

The "Freya" Project as a Separate Direction

Separately, von der Leyen mentioned the joint project with Ukraine to develop its own anti-ballistic missile systems — "Freya." She referred to it outside the context of the current credit disbursement, as an independent direction of technological and defense cooperation between the EU and Kyiv, which underscores the long-term nature of air defense support beyond one-off purchases of American missiles.

Context: Critical Shortage of Air Defense Missiles

The request for PAC-3 comes against the backdrop of an acute shortage of interceptors for air defense systems. According to available data, Ukraine is experiencing a critical shortage of missiles for Patriot, NASAMS, and IRIS-T, and in some units the stocks have been virtually exhausted. This makes the prompt allocation of funds under the credit line a matter not only of financial, but also of direct combat support for air space.

Contradictory Data

Open sources disagree on the exact amount of the request. Ursula von der Leyen used the phrasing "several billion euros" at the briefing, without naming a specific figure. At the same time, a number of Ukrainian publications (in particular, Glavred) operate in their headlines and articles with a more specific estimate — around €2 billion for Patriot missiles. Thus, one version speaks of an unspecified "several billion," while the other — of a sum of about €2 billion. Until an official clarification from the European Commission or Kyiv, both figures should be considered as not reconciled with each other.