EU Ministers Stall on Patriot Deliveries as Russian Sabotage Concerns Mount

While EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas urged member states to donate aging Patriot systems to Kyiv, citing the 400 civilian deaths caused by air-defense gaps in July, Greece and Spain refused to deplete their own stockpiles. Greek Defence Minister Nikos Dendias maintained that Athens must preserve its interceptors to counter regional security threats in the Eastern Mediterranean. This paralysis persists despite warnings from Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur, who stated that Russian intelligence services are operating without limitations, increasingly willing to carry out lethal sabotage within Western Europe.

Beyond the immediate conflict in Ukraine, the ministers debated the future of peacekeeping in Lebanon. With the UN-mandated Unifil mission facing a forced exit on December 31 under pressure from Israel and the United States, several nations proposed deploying an EU-led force. Meanwhile, Kallas announced that the next round of sanctions against Moscow, slated for October, will target the shadow fleet of oil tankers and restrict the flow of dual-use technology to Russian arms factories.