Trump administration approves $2.1 billion arms sale to Ukraine
The Trump administration approved the sale of $2.1 billion in Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine on Friday, the State Department said, reports BritPanorama.
The State Department confirmed that 500 Patriot missiles are being purchased for Ukraine with donations from Canada, Germany, and Norway through a U.S. program, indicating that no American funds were involved.
According to the department, “This proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by improving the security of a partner country that is a force for political and economic stability in Europe.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly stated in recent weeks that Patriot missile systems are essential for defending against Russian attacks.
“Our soldiers have been very strong this year. Then we really build, try to build an air defense shield to defend our civilians, but always a big deficit with Patriot missiles and other kind of air defense,” Zelenskyy told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” two weeks ago.
The Ukrainian leader had also accused the Pentagon of delaying the delivery of interceptor missiles that other countries have purchased for Ukraine.
The announcement of the sale comes as President Donald Trump has recently intensified his criticism of Zelenskyy, describing him as an obstacle to efforts aimed at ending the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Zelenskyy additionally highlighted that Ukraine was left vulnerable due to restrictions on the Starlink satellite internet service.
Ukraine reported on Saturday that both Starlink, run by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, and its military variant, Starshield, were fully functional after a prolonged outage, just two days after Trump indicated Musk had been asked to “put it back.”
