Ukraine to receive US Patriot air defence systems, says Trump

US President Donald Trump has said he will send weapons, including Patriot air defence systems, for Ukraine via Nato.

Trump told NBC News that in a new deal, “we’re going to be sending Patriots to Nato, and then Nato will distribute that”, adding that Nato would pay for the weapons.

His announcement came after Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke of having a “positive dialogue” with Trump on ensuring that arms arrived on time, particularly air defence systems.

Zelensky said he had asked for 10 Patriot systems, after a surge in Russian drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian cities in the past week.

Speaking in Rome on Thursday, the Ukrainian leader said Germany was ready to pay for two of the Patriots and Norway for one, while other European partners were also prepared to help.

After a phone-call with Russia’s Vladimir Putin last week, Trump said he was “not happy” that progress had not been made towards ending the war, and he has since complained that Putin’s “very nice” attitude turned out to be meaningless.

During his interview with NBC News, Trump said he would make a “major statement” on Russia on Monday, but did not say what it would be about.

He said “Nato is going to reimburse the full cost” for the weapons sent on to Ukraine. Nato is funded through the contributions of its members, including the US.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Friday that he had urged countries including Germany and Spain to hand over some of their existing Patriot batteries, as they could reach Ukraine faster.

“We have continued to encourage our Nato allies to provide those weapons… since they have them in their stocks, then we can enter into financial agreements… where they can purchase the replacements.”

The US defence department halted some shipments of critical weapons last week, raising concerns in Kyiv that its air defences could run low in a matter of months.

Among the armaments reported to have been placed on pause were Patriot interceptor missiles and precision artillery shells.

Then, as Ukraine was pounded by record numbers of drone attacks this week, Trump said more weapons would be sent: “We have to… They’re getting hit very hard now.”

Zelensky had appealed for the shipments to resume, describing the Patriot systems as “real protectors of life”.

On Tuesday night, Ukraine was hit by a record 728 drones, and the Ukrainian president warned that Russia wanted to increase that to 1,000.

June saw the highest monthly civilian casualties in Ukraine in three years, with 232 people killed and more than 1,300 injured, according to the UN.

The New York Times, quoting unnamed US officials, says a Patriot battery formerly based in Israel will be sent to Ukraine after refurbishment in the US.

Negotiations over the Israeli battery have been going on for some time. Last month, a senior official in Kyiv said it had already been sent to the US, but that Ukraine was still waiting to receive it.

Patriot air defence batteries, and the interceptor missiles they fire, play a critical role in defending Ukrainian cities, civilian and military infrastructure, from Russian cruise and ballistic missile attacks.

Alongside Soviet-era S-300 surface-to-air missiles and Western-made Nasams (National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System), the Patriots help Ukraine maintain what the military often calls a “layered defence”.

With its advanced radar and tracking and high interception rate, the Patriot is regarded as one of the world’s best air defence systems.

Without it, Ukraine would struggle to protect itself against Moscow’s relentless bombardments.

But it is also eye-wateringly expensive, with a single battery, including missiles, worth around $1bn (£740m). This helps explain why Western countries that operate Patriot systems have been reluctant to part with them.

Ukrainian troops already know how to use them.

The first two Western-supplied batteries arrived in April 2023, after months of pleading from Kyiv. The exact number of systems currently in use is a closely guarded secret.

But each additional battery allows Ukraine to put more cities and key facilities, including military bases and power stations, under the system’s protective umbrella.

Ukraine is a huge country. It will never be able to protect everything – or everyone. But with Russian aerial attacks increasing in frequency and size, Kyiv’s Western allies seem to recognise the urgency of the need.

Since re-entering the White House in January, Trump has pushed to scale back US support for Ukraine.

The US was the biggest source of military aid to Ukraine between the start of 2022 and the end of 2024, giving $69bn (£54.6bn) in that time period, according to German think tank the Kiel Institute.

Trump has also pressed Nato allies to pledge more of their GDP to the security alliance. Last year, all European Nato members pledged to spend 2% of GDP on defence.

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The US has been urging the two countries to reach an agreement to end the war.

Rubio told reporters that he and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had a “frank” conversation on the sidelines of a meeting in Malaysia on Thursday.

Rubio echoed Trump’s “frustration at the lack of progress at peace talks”, including “disappointment that there has not been more flexibility on the Russian side to bring about an end to this conflict”.

He said the two had shared some new ideas about how the conflict could conclude, which he would take back to Trump.

Rubio declined to elaborate on what Trump said would be a “major” announcement about Russia on Monday.