The United States approved the sale of 500 Patriot PAC-3 interceptor missiles to Ukraine for $2.1 billion, with funding from European allies and Canada rather than US government money, the State Department said Friday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned deliveries could take "several years" to arrive. He said Ukraine needed the missiles "right now" as Russia intensified attacks on power infrastructure, striking critical grid components more than 30 times over two weeks.
Lockheed Martin will serve as the principal contractor. The State Department said the sale would support Ukraine's security as "a force for political and economic stability in Europe."
Zelensky noted earlier in the week that Ukraine had waited nearly a month for the US approval while running critically low on munitions. The missiles are in global shortage because the US uses them in operations against Iran. Patriots require lengthy production times, with only 600 produced per year according to the US Department of Defence.
The announcement comes after tensions between Zelensky and President Trump, who earlier this month said Ukraine needed new leadership to strike a deal ending the war. Tensions eased after Zelensky held talks with US envoys in Oslo on October 20.
At a G20 foreign ministers meeting in Atlanta, European diplomats protested Russia's presence by refusing to stand for an official photograph. UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the summit, "Let me say this directly to the Russian Foreign Minister: We all know who the aggressor in this war is," accusing Russia of killing civilians in Ukraine.