EU clears Ukraine loan derogation for Patriot interceptors, NATO chief announces

Ukraine crisisEU clears Ukraine loan derogation for Patriot interceptors, NATO chief announces Mark Rutte welcomed the agreement by the EU member statesBRUSSELS, September 8. /TASS/. EU member states have endorsed a derogation that will allow Ukraine to purchase interceptor missiles for the Patriot air defense system, using funds from the bloc’s €90 billion loan, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said. "I welcome the agreement by the EU member states on the derogation for Ukraine to purchase crucial products for Patriot air defense systems," the NATO chief wrote on his page on X. On August 25, Balazs Ujvari, a spokesperson at the European Commission (EC), told a briefing in Brussels that the EU’s executive body has not yet authorized Kiev to use funds from the bloc’s €90 billion military funding program, which mandates the priority procurement of weapons for combat operations against Russia from European defense firms, to purchase Patriot air defense systems from the United States. However, news emerged on September 1 that Ukraine has filed a formal request to the EC to allow it to use more than €2 billion from the broader funding package on Patriot interceptor purchases. 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