European Commission to approve Ukraine's Patriot funding request on Sept. 11, officials say

Editor's note: This article was updated to include information provided by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in a social media post.

The European Commission is set to greenlight the final 28.3-billion-euro ($33-billion) tranche of this year's defense loans for Ukraine, including an approval for the purchase of U.S.-made Patriot missiles, on Sept. 11, EU and national diplomats confirmed to the Kyiv Independent.

The purchase concerns PAC-3 interceptors, a key tool for defending Ukraine's skies against Russian ballistic missile attacks.

Member states have already backed the request, but one step remains before formal EU approval can be granted, the Kyiv Independent has learned after speaking with EU and national diplomats.

The European Commission still needs to write up the agreement and publish a communication for the approval to be final, which is expected on Sept. 11.

While the Commission's approval remains days away, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen welcomed the agreement among EU countries in a social media post on Sept. 8.

"The next disbursement of 3.2 billion euros will enable Ukraine to better protect its skies from Russia's indiscriminate attacks," von der Leyen said.

"We will continue to work hand in hand to support Ukraine and to strengthen Europe's defense posture."

EU approval is required because the terms of the bloc's 90 billion-euro ($104-billion) support loan, from which the 28.3-billion-euro tranche is drawn, impose restrictions on purchasing products from outside the EU, Ukraine, or Norway.

The terms specify that the loan must be spent on materiel that sources 65% of its components from the countries listed above. Products that do not fit this criterion must be granted an exception.

The EU has already approved one such exception for Chinese drone components in April 2026.

The request for a derogation to buy U.S. Patriot missiles was submitted by then-Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov just before he was fired by President Volodymyr Zelensky on July 15.

However, an approval to buy Patriot missiles is not the same thing as Ukraine actually having new interceptors. There is a global shortage of such missiles, and the Freyja interceptor system, which Ukraine and its European partners are developing, is expected to begin live tests only in mid-2027.

The European Commission's approval of the request to buy Patriots is also expected to greenlight roughly 6 billion euros ($7 billion) in Ukrainian defense spending plans.

That would mean the full 28.3 billion euros of planned spending has been approved.

However, Ukraine has received only about 8.4 billion euros ($9.8 billion) of the total because of delays in providing the specific invoices and receipts for the purchases, which the EU must cross-check to ensure the money is spent as planned.

Von der Leyen's social media post mentions that the next disbursement of 3.2 billion euros ($3.7 billion) is set to be delivered.