U.S. President Donald Trump has confirmed that Ukraine will receive American-made Patriot air defense systems. According to him, the systems will be sold to the European Union and then transferred to Kyiv. The exact number of units was not disclosed, as the president only mentioned a “certain number,” reports Baltimore Chronicle citing Deutsche Welle.
Speaking on July 13 at Joint Base Andrews (JBA) in Maryland, Trump emphasized that the deal would be financially beneficial for the United States. “It’s business for us. And we’re going to send them (the Ukrainians – Ed.) the Patriots they urgently need,” he said. It remains unclear which EU countries will be involved in the transaction.
Earlier, in a July 10 interview with NBC News, Trump stated that the weapons were being delivered through NATO channels. “We’re sending NATO weapons, and NATO is paying for them — 100%. The weapons go to NATO, then NATO transfers them (to Ukraine – Ed.), and NATO covers the cost,” he said.
Additional details were provided by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio during his visit to Malaysia on July 11. According to Rubio, much of the U.S.-made weaponry needed by Ukraine is already stationed with NATO allies in Europe. This allows for significantly faster delivery compared to ordering and manufacturing the systems in the United States. “It’s much quicker to move something from Germany to Ukraine than to produce it and ship it overseas,” he explained.
Furthermore, the Axios news outlet, citing two informed sources, reports that Trump is set to unveil a new weapons plan for Ukraine on Monday. The plan includes the supply of offensive weapons, including long-range missiles capable of striking deep into Russian territory, possibly reaching Moscow. The sources note that a final decision on specific weapon types has yet to be made.
According to Axios, Trump was partly persuaded to take this step following a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on July 3. During the conversation, the Russian leader reportedly signaled plans to launch intensified operations in Ukraine within the next 60 days.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, author of a bill to increase sanctions against Russia, stated that Trump is “very angry with Putin.” He added that the U.S. President’s scheduled statement on July 14 “will be very aggressive.”
Earlier we wrote that critical Patriot shortage forces Pentagon to reevaluate weapon supplies.