The war in the Middle East has made it even more urgent for Europe to step up production of air defense and anti‑ballistic missiles, E.U. defense commissioner Andrius Kubilius said earlier today.

“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,” he said during a joint news conference with Polish Deputy Prime Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak‑Kamysz.

“Americans really will not be able to provide enough of those missiles, both for the Gulf countries, for the American army itself, and also for Ukraine’s needs,” he added.

We reported earlier this week that concerns over depleting munitions used to defend American forces in the Middle East may lead the Trump administration to force defense companies to produce more weaponry quickly, according to three people familiar with the discussions.