EU ministers to discuss air defence for Ukraine

22/4/2024 11:53

        European Union foreign ministers meet in Luxembourg on Monday to discuss bolstering Ukraine’s air defences and expanding sanctions on Iran.
        
        While the ministers will also discuss the war in Sudan, most of their focus will be on the conflicts raging on the 27-member bloc’s eastern and southern doorsteps – in Ukraine and the Middle East.
        
        With Russia having stepped up air attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and other targets, EU governments are under pressure to supply more air defence systems such as Patriots to Kyiv.
        
        Kyiv and its European allies got a big boost at the weekend when the U.S. House of Representatives approved a package worth more than $60 billion to address the war in Ukraine.
        
        But EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and NATO boss Jens Stoltenberg have been urging European countries to step up their own efforts to give arms to Ukraine, particularly air defence.