US Approves Sale of 500 Patriot Missiles Worth $2.1 Billion to Ukraine

The US State Department has approved the sale of 500 Patriot PAC-3 missiles to Ukraine for an estimated $2.1 billion. The department announced this on Friday. British news agency Reuters reported the news.

It has been described as one of the most significant steps in supplying defensive weapons to Kyiv since the second term of the Trump administration began.

Earlier, after President Donald Trump announced a diesel deal with Russia and criticised President Volodymyr Zelenskyy over Ukraine's unwillingness to stop attacks on Russian oil refineries, delays in missile supply increased tensions between the United States and Ukraine.

Ukraine has long said it urgently needs more interceptor missiles to counter the Russian military's growing missile attacks on the country. The Patriot system is the most effective weapon to intercept fast-moving ballistic missiles.

On Thursday, at least 14 people were killed in a Russian drone attack on a rail platform in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. Officials said five more people were killed in daytime attacks on two other provincial cities, and one person was killed in a late-night missile attack on the capital Kyiv.

Zelenskyy said on Monday that, as Russia steps up attacks on energy and civilian infrastructure, Ukraine has been waiting for nearly a month for US approval of important missile supplies.

Despite Ukraine's urgent need, however, the interceptor missiles are unlikely to arrive quickly. Arms sale contracts usually take several years to fulfil. Two people informed about the US decision said the missiles have not yet been manufactured, and delivery is unlikely until several years into the 2030s.

One of them said Ukraine's defence ministry is encouraging the Pentagon to bring the delivery date forward. For this, missiles from US stockpiles could be given to Kyiv, with the gap filled by new Patriot interceptors.

In a statement, the State Department said Ukraine will pay for the missiles through a programme called US Jumpstart, with contributions from Canada, Germany and Norway and a national fund financed from the European Union's Ukraine Support Loan. According to the Pentagon's website, under this programme, allies' donations are used to buy weapons, services and training to help Ukraine defend itself after the Russian aggression.

In August, using the Jumpstart programme, 3,350 air-launched cruise missiles made by Zone 5 Technologies and CoAspire were bought for $825 million. Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor for the Patriot interceptor sale.

The United States is supplying large quantities of weapons to allies and at the same time using ammunition in its own military operations in Iran. This has raised concerns over stockpiles of important air defence and precision weapons.

In July, the US Army gave Lockheed a contract worth up to $5.86 billion to produce Patriot interceptor missiles. Lockheed said the contract will help it keep its commitment to triple PAC-3 MSE production capacity by 2030 and increase employment at its Camden, Arkansas plant by 50 percent, from 1,200 to about 1,850. It had earlier also said it would take Patriot PAC-3 interceptor production to 2,000 units a year.