“Deliveries can only begin in a few years”: the United States approves the sale of 500 Patriot missiles to Ukraine, but Volodymyr Zelensky fears they will arrive too late and calls on Washington to “find a solution”

The US government has approved the sale of 500 Patriot interceptor missiles to Ukraine for an amount exceeding two billion dollars, the State Department said in a statement on Friday. “Ukraine will pay with contributions from Canada, Germany and Norway (...) and with national funds financed by the European Union support loan,” details the American government, which specifies “that no American funds are committed”.

This arms sale must still be ratified by the American Congress and no timetable is put forward in the press release. “It has been clarified that deliveries can only begin in a few years,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed alarm in the evening on X, who nevertheless welcomed “a strong decision from the American State Department.” The American Patriot interceptors, valuable to Ukraine because the only ones capable of shooting down more sophisticated Russian missiles, are among the recent subjects of tension between kyiv and Washington.

“We ask our American partners to find a solution for the moment when there will be a real danger and a real need to use interceptors,” Volodymyr Zelensky called again. Russian attacks continue Last week, he had already accused the United States of deliberately delaying deliveries of Patriot missiles to his country. “On average, 12 missiles (Patriot) per month: this is what we will receive in 2026,” the Ukrainian president revealed on Wednesday, also referring to a “significant shortage of NASAMS missiles”, Norwegian-made interceptors.

The next day, Volodymyr Zelensky called for “just and resolute actions from America and Europe in the face of Russian escalation.” Russian attacks continue unabated, with the exception of a respite around Olechky (south), where a localized ceasefire has entered its fourth day, making it the longest since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Negotiations between Russians and Ukrainians under American mediation are due to take place in November in the United Arab Emirates to try to find a way out of the conflict, the deadliest on European soil since World War II.

Machine-translated from French