Ukraine has been approved to buy up to 500 advanced Patriot air defence missiles from the US, but President Volodymyr Zelensky has raised concerns over how soon the interceptors will reach the country as it faces continued Russian attacks.
The Trump administration approved the proposed $2.1 billion sale on Friday, according to a notice issued by the US State Department. The package includes as many as 500 of the most advanced Patriot interceptors, manufactured by Lockheed Martin Corp., along with spare parts, logistics and support, Bloomberg reported.
Welcoming the decision, Zelensky said the weapons might not arrive in time to protect Ukraine against ongoing Russian attacks. He said “it has been stipulated” that deliveries may begin only in a few years. “We are asking our American partners to find a solution for the time when there is a real danger and a real need to use PAC-3 interceptors,” Zelensky said in a post on X. “Right now, the Russians are attacking our energy infrastructure every single day.”
The targets included Dnipro, where a drone attack blamed on Russia killed at least 14 people at a railway station on Thursday, as well as oil refining infrastructure elsewhere in the country.
He told US senators on Monday that “the Pentagon is delaying the delivery of missiles”, even though they had already been paid for by Ukraine’s European allies. In his nightly video address on Friday, Zelensky highlighted a “severe shortage of Patriot systems” and said Russia had launched 17 ballistic missiles at Ukraine overnight. “The Russians have not taken a single step toward de-escalation regarding the energy sector,” Zelensky said. Ukraine will finance the Patriot order through contributions from Canada, Germany and Norway under the JUMPSTART programme, along with national funds financed by the European Union’s Ukraine Support Loan, the State Department said.
The Ukrainian president had earlier alleged that Washington was holding up the delivery of crucial missiles needed to defend the country against Russian attacks.
