EU defence commissioner begins missile tour for Ukraine in Poland: Kyiv needs over 2,000 missiles a year
Andrius Kubilius, European Commissioner for Defence and Space, arrived in Poland on Friday 6 March on what he called a missile tour aimed at securing supplies of air defence missiles for Ukraine, which needs more than 2,000 such missiles per year.
Kubilius arrived in Poland on the missile tour to secure long-term air defence supplies for Ukraine.
"I announced that Missile Tour, you know, months ago, that we shall do that, and we started from Poland. I would like to, first of all, say a few words about why we are going for this Missile Tour, and why we started exactly from Poland, from Warsaw. Really, Poland is a key for the future of European defence, for the future of Europe's defence industry, and for missile production in Europe," Kubilius said at a press conference in Warsaw alongside Poland's Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz.
He added that the European Union is currently preparing a loan to support Ukraine, of which €60 billion in 2026–2027 will go directly to Ukraine's defence sector.
"Ukraine has very clear strategic priorities of what they need to be financed from this loan. Missiles, drones and so-called Extended Range 155 ammunition. And out of those three major priorities, it looks like that missiles is now really the most challenging priority," he said.
Kubilius noted that during 2025 Ukraine faced nearly 2,000 missile attacks from Russia, including about 900 ballistic missiles, which are difficult to intercept.
The American Patriot air defence system is effective in countering ballistic missile attacks.
"Ukrainians, just for the winter season, for a four-month period, needed around 700 Patriot missiles, so-called PAC-2 and PAC-3 missiles. And this is the number which American producers are able to produce during one year," Kubilius said.
He said that this means Ukraine needs about 2,000 or more missiles each year.
"And now, it's very clear that after the Iranian crisis, if we can call it so, it became even more urgent for us in Europe to ramp up production of air defence and anti-ballistic missiles," Kubilius summed up.
Kaja Kallas, the European Union's top diplomat, said that weapons and defence capabilities needed by Ukraine, including air defence systems, are currently being redirected to the Middle East, raising concerns.
Italian PM Giorgia Meloni confirmed plans for the government to transfer air defence systems to countries in the Persian Gulf that are facing Iranian drone attacks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the situation in the Middle East has not yet affected the supply of US weapons to Ukraine under the PURL initiative, particularly missiles for air defence systems.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump criticised the previous administration of Joe Biden for supplying ammunition to Ukraine free of charge, arguing that it could instead have been sold to countries in the Middle East.