US authorize sale of 500 Patriot missiles to Ukraine after delays

O U.S. State Department today authorized the sale to Ukraine of 500 missiles for Patriot anti-aircraft batteries after Kyiv reported delays in supply.

The operation — with a cost of US$2.1 billion (1.88 billion) — will be financed by Germany, Canada and Norway without US resources, according to Washington.

The announcement arises in a context of growing tensions between Washington and Kyiv, motivated by the US decision to relax some sanctions against Russia and by disruptions in military aid to Ukrainian forces.

The sale was released during the meeting of G20 Foreign Ministers in Atlanta, chaired by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

The meeting was attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, whose participation led to the rejection of the European members of the G20.

Lavrov claimed to have had a “pleasant conversation” with Marco Rubio on the G20.

“ We had a very pleasant conversation, brief, for obvious reasons (...) We discussed some aspects of our bilateral relations as well as our cooperation in multilateral organisations,” Lavrov said at a press conference.

Ukraine, which is not part of the G20 — although it has participated in previous editions of the forum — was not invited by the United States, host country.

According to the State Department, Patriot missiles, manufactured by the US company Lockheed Martin, will improve “the capacity of Ukraine to address current and future threats by strengthening its integrated air defense and anti-missile capabilities.”.

This week, Zelensky stated that Kyiv has been waiting almost a month for U.S. authorization to receive anti-aircraft defense missiles to tackle the Russian attacks.

“ Specifically, we have been waiting almost a month for Mr Hegseth to give his approval to the missiles for the Patriots and NASAMS,” Zelensky added, referring to U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.

Today, Zelensky recalled on social networks that Ukrainian energy infrastructure suffers, “every day”, the impact of Russian air strikes.

Ukraine is currently facing a marked shortage of ammunition for these anti-aircraft defense systems, which are key to intercepting ballistic missiles used by Russian forces.

The lack of interceptors increases the vulnerability of Ukrainian cities and infrastructures to Russian air strikes.

However, the United States has refused to deliberately delay the supply of arms to Ukraine.

In recent weeks, the Trump administration and SpaceX have presented conflicting reports on interruptions’ in Ukraine’s access to Starlink satellite internet, which is essential for its military operations, and has in the meantime been restored to normal levels.

Last weekend, Musk acknowledged that SpaceX limited Starlink's service in Ukraine, accusing the country of violating its terms of service — an allegation that the Ukrainian authorities denied. However, Musk maintained that the U.S. government controlled any changes made to the Starshield.

In 2022, early in the conflict, Musk ordered the interruption of Starlink service in regions such as Kherson and Donetsk, justifying that he was concerned about a possible escalation by Russia.

President Donald Trump said he did not order restrictions, while Vice President JD Vance suggested that there was coordination between the White House and Musk.

Zelensky also denounced restrictions on the sharing of information from US intelligence services, as well as limitations on Starlink's operation, attributing the problems to an attempt by President Donald Trump to pressure Kyiv to accept the conditions required by the Kremlin to end the war.