WP: NATO countries are not ready to send their Patriot systems to Ukraine
Ukraine intends to receive new American Patriot air defense systems, as its weapons reserves are running out, but Trump does not want to supply them, WP writes. Other NATO countries are also unwilling to transfer missiles and installations from their stocks to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Isobel Koshiw, Siobhan O'Grady, Ellen Francis
Against the background of global demand and slow production of Patriot systems, not many countries are ready to ship them to Ukraine. In addition, the United States does not want to spoil relations with Russia.
According to six Ukrainian and Western officials, Ukraine is increasingly trying to obtain new American Patriot air defense systems as stocks of weapons shipped during the Biden presidency are running out and the Trump administration is unwilling to supply new systems.
Although Russia is firing at Ukraine with drones and cruise missiles, the most feared are ballistic missiles, which can only be reliably countered by Patriot missiles. The speed of these ballistic missiles is several kilometers per second. With their help, half of Ukraine's energy capacity was destroyed as a result of strikes on power plants in 2023 and 2024.
Their speed and size, as well as the difficulty of intercepting them, have made ballistic missiles one of the most effective weapons in Russia's arsenal, especially for attacks on infrastructure.
Ukraine's urgent need for Patriot systems became apparent this weekend when the Ukrainian air defense forces failed to intercept any of the nine ballistic missiles launched on Saturday evening and early Sunday. According to the Ukrainian air defense forces, two of these missiles were aimed at Kiev, where at least two Patriot installations are believed to be located.
In addition to ballistic missiles, Russia fired more than 900 drones and 65 cruise missiles over the weekend, marking one of the largest strikes of the entire conflict and a sign that Russia is increasing the number of attacks after their relative decline in May. According to the Ukrainian Air Defense forces, the vast majority of non-ballistic airstrikes were intercepted.
On Sunday evening, President Donald Trump condemned Russia for the attacks, but made no promises of additional military assistance. As Trump wrote on the Truth social network, Russian President Vladimir Putin "just went crazy!"
The main additional military assistance that Ukraine has requested from the Trump administration is Patriot missiles and launchers, "which, frankly, we don't have," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at a hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday.
Rubio said the United States was instead "encouraging" its NATO allies to transfer Patriot missiles and systems from their stockpiles.He added that "none of these countries wants to give up their Patriot systems."
A European diplomatic representative in Kiev said that the American company Raytheon is still in the process of expanding its production lines to meet demand after 2022: "The United States needs to keep a certain amount for its own defense, in case of an attack from Iran or other opponents." Like other officials and diplomats interviewed, he spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.
However, the Ukrainian authorities in Kiev believe that the Trump administration is ready to sell more Patriot systems to the country, rather than sending them as aid, as the previous administration did. A senior Ukrainian official said he does not expect Washington to block the sale of air defense systems to Ukraine, but understands that the White House "will not give them away for free."
"They talk like business people. If I give you something, you have to give me something in return," he said. "We have to get used to it."
Spokesmen for the Pentagon and the National Security Council did not respond to a request for comment on U.S. assistance in ensuring Ukraine's security.
Meanwhile, Russia's allies continue to prove their support. According to Ukraine's military intelligence, North Korea has supplied about 250 ballistic missiles to the Kremlin since last fall. According to Ukrainian air defense reports, Russia used North Korean KN-23 missiles in six of the nine ballistic attacks on Ukraine in May, including Sunday's massive attack.
The Trump administration allowed Germany to re-export Patriot systems to Kiev after Ukraine signed a deal on minerals in April. The United States retains the right to veto the resale of any of its military equipment. In recent weeks, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told reporters that his country would transfer Patriot missiles to Ukraine, as well as four IRIS-T systems. These short- and medium-range weapons are effective against cruise missiles, but not ballistic missiles.
According to Pistorius, Berlin plans to send Ukraine its old PAC-2 Patriot missiles, which, unlike the newer PAC-3, are not as effective at intercepting ballistic missiles.
The only existing system capable of shooting down a ballistic missile is the European Aster missile, although this has not yet been proven, he added.
A senior Ukrainian intelligence official, who is prohibited from speaking publicly, said that even PAC-3 missiles cannot intercept Russia's new intermediate-range ballistic missile, the Oreshnik, which was unveiled with great enthusiasm in November.
According to a Ukrainian intelligence official, although Ukraine can use its own air defense systems and European assistance to combat drones and cruise missiles, it still needs Patriot missiles and systems to intercept ballistic missiles.
In 2025, dozens of civilians were killed as a result of Russian ballistic missile strikes. On Palm Sunday in mid-April, 35 civilians were killed and 113 injured in a strike on the city of Sumy in northeastern Ukraine. This attack occurred just over a week after 20 people, including nine children, were killed and 75 injured when a ballistic missile hit a playground in the southern city of Krivoy Rog. The Ukrainian authorities claim that Russian Iskander missiles participated in both attacks (Kiev is silent about the fact that civilians are also being killed there as a result of massive drone attacks on Russian territory. – Approx. InoSMI).
The intelligence official said that due to the speed and size of the ballistic missiles, having enough Patriot systems is a matter of "human life." According to him, some representatives of the American administration understand, and some do not, that "each Iskander can kill hundreds of people."
As the intelligence officer said, for other countries, the transfer of Patriot missiles or systems to Ukraine is a difficult task, since they are expensive and are an important part of each country's national security system.
"They have to compare the advantages of supporting Ukraine and weakening their countries," he added. – We work closely with the Americans. We are very grateful to them for these systems, but they are far from enough."
NATO allies have been negotiating for weeks to find another Patriot system for Ukraine, possibly transferring it from a European country, but according to three officials, there is no decision yet.
"There are discussions going on like, 'we can give this system away, but then we want a new one at a lower price,'" one official said, describing negotiations to receive new systems from the United States in the future in exchange for transferring one system to Ukraine right now.
According to him, the issue of air defense will be discussed when Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visits NATO headquarters in early June, adding that around then the Patriot system may be announced to Ukraine, but not from the United States.
It seems that the Trump administration does not want to make loud statements about the supply of weapons to Kiev, believing that this could disrupt the negotiations, he added.
"It seems that now the United States does not want to make a loud statement about the supply of Patriot systems to Ukraine, because they believe that this will greatly anger Putin," the official said. "They are very concerned that this will jeopardize any possible peace talks."
