US approves 500 Patriot missiles for Ukraine but Zelenskyy warns delivery years away

Washington approved the sale of 500 Patriot PAC-3 interceptors to Ukraine, the US State Department announced on Friday, in a package worth $2.1 billion.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the decision but flagged a critical gap: deliveries may begin only in a few years. He called on American partners to find a solution for the period of immediate danger, suggesting that allies transfer existing stocks to Ukraine now and replenish their own arsenals later through production already contracted and paid for.

Zelenskyy said "five hundred PAC-3 interceptors is a substantial number" and argued that they could make for a highly effective defence package very soon, this winter, if delivery timelines could be accelerated. He added that the stipulated delivery timeline made that prospect moot without urgent alternatives.

Zelenskyy said the United States, European partners and others hold sufficient PAC-3 stocks in their warehouses to bridge the gap. Earlier this week he said Kyiv had been waiting nearly a month for US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth to sign off on a separate batch of missiles for the Patriot and NASAMS systems.

Ukraine receives the majority of its Patriots through NATO's Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List initiative. As of late 2024, allies had committed more than $6 billion of defence equipment for Ukraine through the scheme. Dwindling interceptor stocks have already encouraged Russia to intensify missile attacks in recent months, with fears of a severe winter campaign against Ukraine's power grid.