United States Approves $2.1 Billion Sale of 500 Patriot Missiles to Ukraine
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The State Department approved a possible $2.1 billion sale of 500 PAC-3 interceptor missiles to Ukraine on Friday, a munition Kyiv says it urgently needs against escalating Russian ballistic missile attacks. The department said the purchase would be “funded entirely” by Ukraine’s allies in Europe and Canada, with no United States funds involved.
The statement said Canada, Germany and Norway would provide donations through the JUMPSTART program, with the remainder financed by national funds and the European Union’s Ukraine Support Loan. The principal contractor will be Lockheed Martin. The department said the sale “will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by improving the security of a partner country that is a force for political and economic stability in Europe.”
President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the approval but said Ukraine needed the missiles “right now,” warning in a post on X that deliveries could take “several years.” He said Russia had carried out more than 30 strikes on “critical parts” of Ukraine’s power grid in the past two weeks as it pressed attacks on energy infrastructure before winter. Mr. Zelensky said Ukraine had been waiting almost a month for Washington to sign off on critical missile supplies.
The approval follows a difficult month in Kyiv’s relations with Washington. President Trump eased sanctions on Russia earlier this month as part of an arrangement involving Russian diesel, and said it was time for Ukraine to get a new leader to strike a deal ending the war. Tensions eased after Mr. Zelensky held talks with US envoys in Oslo on October 20.
Patriot batteries are the only systems that have reliably downed Russian ballistic missiles, and Ukrainian officials have said stockpiles of interceptors are critically low. The PAC-3 variant is designed to destroy incoming warheads by direct collision rather than blast fragmentation.
The announcement came as European diplomats at the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in Atlanta protested the presence of Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, by refusing to stand for the group photograph. Britain’s foreign secretary told Mr. Lavrov directly that all knew “who the aggressor in this war is.” Ukraine’s air defense procurement is now in the hands of Lockheed Martin’s production lines and the pace of partner payments, with the first interceptors likely months away.