US approves $2.1bn sale of 500 Patriot missiles to Ukraine, but Zelensky warns delivery could take years
The United States has approved the sale of 500 Patriot PAC-3 interceptor missiles to Ukraine, worth an estimated $2.1 billion and funded entirely by Kyiv's allies in Europe and Canada. President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the decision but warned that deliveries could take several years, while Russia steps up strikes on Ukraine's power grid ahead of winter.
The US State Department announced the proposed sale on Friday, 30 October. It said Ukraine will pay with donations from Canada, Germany and Norway through the JUMPSTART programme and with national funds financed by the European Union's Ukraine Support Loan, and that no US money is involved. The principal contractor is Lockheed Martin. In its notice, the department said the sale would improve the security of a partner country that is a force for political and economic stability in Europe.
Patriots are the only weapon in Ukraine's arsenal that can reliably bring down Russian ballistic missiles. Zelensky had said earlier in the week that Kyiv had been waiting almost a month for Washington to sign off on supplies it was running critically low on. In a post on X late on Friday he thanked the US, but said Ukraine needed the missiles right now, citing more than 30 Russian strikes on critical parts of its power system in the past two weeks.
The order is understood to be for newly built missiles rather than existing stock, so a quick handover is unlikely. Interceptors are in short supply worldwide after heavy use by the United States in its war with Iran, and the US Department of Defense puts annual Patriot missile production at about 600. The approval follows weeks of strain between Kyiv and the Trump administration after Washington eased some sanctions on Russia as part of a diesel deal; tensions eased after Ukrainian officials met US envoys in Oslo on 20 October.