MORE HELP NEEDED:
The US is encouraging NATO allies to provide Ukraine with defensive systems they have in their stocks and then purchase replacements

The US is selling weapons to its NATO allies in Europe so they can provide them to Ukraine, as it struggles to fend off a recent escalation in Russia’s drone and missile attacks, US President Donald Trump and his chief diplomat said.

“We’re sending weapons to NATO, and NATO is paying for those weapons, 100 percent,” Trump said on Thursday. “So what we’re doing is, the weapons that are going out are going to NATO, and then NATO is going to be giving those weapons [to Ukraine], and NATO is paying for those weapons.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday said that some of the US-made weapons that Ukraine is seeking are deployed with NATO allies in Europe. Those weapons could be transferred to Ukraine, with European countries buying replacements from the US, he said.

Photo: Reuters

“It’s a lot faster to move something, for example, from Germany to Ukraine than it is to order it from a [US] factory and get it there,” Rubio said.

Ukraine badly needs more US-made Patriot air defense systems to stop Russian ballistic and cruise missiles. The Trump administration has gone back and forth about providing more vital military aid to Ukraine more than three years into Russia’s invasion.

After a brief pause in some weapons shipments, Trump said he would keep sending defensive weapons to Ukraine. US officials said this week that some were on their way.

Germany, Spain and other European countries possess Patriot missile systems, and some have placed orders for more, Rubio said.

The US is encouraging its NATO allies to provide “the defensive systems that Ukraine seeks … since they have them in their stocks, and then we can enter into financial agreements with them, with us, where they can purchase the replacements,” Rubio said.

US weapons already in Europe could be transferred to Ukraine under Trump’s proposal, as could US-made weapons previously purchased by allies.

A senior European defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said it was their understanding that European nations would purchase US weapons for Ukraine under the plan.

Russia has recently sought to overwhelm Ukraine’s air defenses by launching major aerial attacks. This week, Russia fired more than 700 attack and decoy drones at Ukraine, topping previous barrages for the third time in two weeks.

Ukraine has asked other countries to supply it with an additional 10 Patriot systems and missiles, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday.

Germany is ready to provide two systems and Norway has agreed to supply one, he added.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Thursday said that officials “stand ready to acquire additional Patriot systems from the US and make them available to Ukraine.”

Asked how many Patriot systems Germany is interested in buying, Merz did not give a number, but said he spoke to Trump a week ago “and asked him to deliver these systems.”

Weaponry that could be sold to NATO members includes advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles, shorter-range missiles and Howitzer rounds, a person familiar with the internal White House debate said.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment seeking more details.

US Senator Lindsey Graham said it is in US national security interests to sell weapons to Ukraine, and “Europe can pay for them.”

Allies purchasing US weapons for Ukraine would get around a possible stalemate in funding for Kyiv once an aid package approved last year runs out. Even with broad support in US Congress for backing Ukraine, it is unclear if more funding would be approved.

Trump’s efforts to facilitate Ukraine’s weapon supply come as he has signaled his displeasure with Russian President Vladimir Putin. At a Cabinet meeting this week, he said he was “not happy” with Putin over a conflict that was “killing a lot of people” on both sides.

Graham says Trump has given him the go-ahead to push forward with a bill he is cosponsoring that calls for a 500 percent tariff on goods imported from countries that continue to buy Russian oil.