U.S. Approves $2.1 Billion Sale of 500 Patriot Missiles to Ukraine

The State Department on Friday approved a $2.1 billion sale of 500 Patriot missiles to Ukraine, NBC News and CBS News reported, citing a department statement. The department said the sale would support the foreign policy and national security goals of the United States by strengthening a partner it called a force for stability in Europe.

On payment, the department said Ukraine would buy the missiles with donations from Canada and European allies such as Germany and Norway, and that no U.S. funds are involved, according to NBC and CBS. CBS reported that Lockheed Martin is the principal contractor and that the department said the sale would have no adverse impact on U.S. defense readiness. Neither report says whether Congress must review the deal.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the decision and thanked President Trump, CBS reported, but warned that it may take years for the missiles to arrive. He pointed to more than 30 Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure in the past two weeks and asked the United States and its European partners to supply Patriot systems from their own stockpiles now, then replenish them later with the 500 missiles, CBS reported.

The supply of interceptors has been a running dispute. Zelenskyy told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Oct. 18 that there is always a big deficit of Patriot and other air defense, and he accused the Pentagon of delaying delivery of interceptors that other countries had bought for Ukraine, NBC reported. CBS likewise noted that Ukraine has previously accused the United States of slowing Patriot deliveries.

The approval comes amid a cooler tone from Washington. NBC reported that Trump has recently stepped up criticism of Zelenskyy, describing him as an obstacle to ending the war, and CBS reported that Trump has faced criticism for waiving new sanctions on Russia just days before they were due to take effect. Separately, NBC reported that Ukraine said on Saturday that Starlink and Starshield service was fully restored after a long outage, two days after Trump said Elon Musk had been asked to put it back.

The sale answers a familiar objection from skeptics of aid to Ukraine, that Washington should not spend on a foreign war or thin its own stocks, with two claims: no American money is involved, and U.S. readiness is not affected. Neither claim has been tested by independent analysis in the reporting reviewed here, and the long delivery timeline Zelenskyy describes means the missiles would not change the winter picture on their own.