European Union defence ministers have mulled difficulties in supplying Ukraine with sufficient air defence equipment after Russia intensified its attacks on the country.
"July and August have been the deadliest months for civilians in Ukraine," the EU's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, said on Tuesday about the deadly wave of strikes on Ukraine.
"Russia is really escalating, to hurt the people of Ukraine as much as possible, to break them," she said on the sidelines of a gathering of EU defence ministers in Wicklow, south of the Irish capital Dublin.
"The main issue is air defence. They are lacking interceptors," Kallas said.
Kallas acknowledged it was "very hard" to convince countries inside and outside the European Union to give Ukraine more interceptors, as some countries are faced with several geopolitical conflicts close to their borders.
"The Russian missile attacks on the civilian population must be stopped. What is happening there is unacceptable," said Germany's state secretary for defence, Sebastian Hartmann.
Efforts are also ongoing to unblock more EU financial aid for Ukraine's armed forces in the coming days, Kallas said.
Overnight, NATO fighter jets scrambled after drones entered Estonian airspace, Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur said.
"We see how important it is to support Ukraine and how important it is to give them air defence assets," Pevkur said.
Next to Ukraine's air defence needs, EU defence ministers were expected to discuss the implementation of the EU's €90 billion ($104 billion) aid loan for Kiev and further support for the Ukrainian armed forces, as well as closer cooperation between the defence industries of Ukraine and the EU.
The ministers were also set to discuss the growing importance of space in modern defence and the situation in the Middle East, with a focus on Lebanon and maritime security.