"We have the funding. Now we need the stocks", said Finnish Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen as he demands "political willingness" to the United States to be able to start the deliveries of the Patriot missiles to Ukraine.
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Finnish Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen spoke to Defence journalist Shona Murray on the European effort to support Ukraine and to break the current deadlock on peace talks with Russian President Putin.
In late October, the US approved the sale of 500 Patriot interceptor missiles worth $2.1 billion. However, Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, warned of the consequences to delays of deliveries, urging Washington to first provide them to Ukraine before replenishing US stocks.
Häkkänen insisted that as now Europeans are the "biggest supporter" for Ukraine, the continent can't show exhaustion as it "weakens the [European] negotiation position."
