US approves $2.1bn sale of 500 Patriot missiles to Ukraine

Interceptors yet to be built may not arrive until years into the 2030s

The US State Department has approved the proposed sale of 500 Patriot PAC-3 missiles to Ukraine for an estimated $2.1 billion, announcing the decision in a statement on Friday. “The proposed sale will improve Ukraine’s capability to meet current and future threats by improving its integrated air and missile defense capabilities,” the department said. The statement did not provide an estimate for when the weapons could be delivered.

Zelenskyy praised what he called the “strong decision by the US state department.” But in a post on X early on Saturday, the Ukrainian president said: “However, 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.”

“Right now, the Russians are attacking our energy infrastructure every single day,” he added.

Ukraine has long said it urgently needs more missile interceptors to knock down the growing waves of missiles Russia’s military fires at the country, and the Patriot system is the most effective weapon to counter fast-moving ballistic missiles. The urgency was underlined on Thursday, when officials said a Russian drone strike killed at least 14 people on a crowded rail platform in Dnipro, five people died in daytime strikes on two other provincial cities, and a late-evening missile strike killed one person in the capital, Kyiv.

Zelenskyy said US and European allies have sufficient stockpiles of Patriot interceptors to provide to Ukraine now, and that those stockpiles could be replenished in the coming years through contracts already paid for by Ukraine and its partners. He said this would “be the right approach” and was “entirely feasible.”

Despite that urgency, Ukraine will probably not receive the interceptors quickly. Weapons sales typically take years to fulfill, and two people briefed on the US decision said the missiles — which are yet to be manufactured — are not expected to be delivered until a couple of years into the 2030s.

One of those people said Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense was encouraging the Pentagon to bring the delivery date forward, possibly by giving Kyiv missiles already in the US arsenal and backfilling with the new Patriot interceptors.

Ukraine will pay for the missiles with contributions from Canada, Germany and Norway routed through a program called US Jumpstart, along with national funds financed by the European Union’s Ukraine Support Loan, the State Department said. According to a Pentagon website, the program uses donations from allies to buy weapons, services and training for Ukraine to support its self-defense following Russia’s invasion. Lockheed Martin is the principal contractor for the sale.

The delayed deliveries add to Kyiv’s tensions with Washington. President Donald Trump announced a diesel deal with Russia and criticized Zelenskyy for Ukraine’s unwillingness to stop attacks on Russian refineries.

The sale also comes as the US has supplied large quantities of weapons to allies while using munitions in its own military operations in Iran, raising concerns about inventories of key air defense and precision-guided weapons.