{"id":257473,"date":"2025-07-11T23:46:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T23:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/257473\/"},"modified":"2025-07-11T23:46:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-11T23:46:11","slug":"us-sells-weapons-to-nato-allies-to-give-to-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/257473\/","title":{"rendered":"US sells weapons to NATO allies to give to Ukraine"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 The United States 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<\/a> in Russia\u2019s drone and missile attacks, President Donald Trump and his chief diplomat said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re sending weapons to NATO, and NATO is paying for those weapons, 100%,\u201d Trump said in an interview with NBC News late Thursday. \u201cSo what we\u2019re 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday that some of the U.S.-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 U.S., he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a lot faster to move something, for example, from Germany to Ukraine than it is to order it from a (U.S.) factory and get it there,\u201d Rubio told reporters during a visit to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ukraine badly needs more U.S.-made Patriot air defense systems<\/a> to stop Russian ballistic and cruise missiles. The Trump administration has gone back and forth<\/a> about providing more vital military aid to Ukraine more than three years into<\/a> Russia\u2019s invasion. <\/p>\n

After a brief pause in some weapons shipments<\/a>, Trump said he would keep sending defensive weapons<\/a> to Ukraine. U.S. officials said this week that some were on their way<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Details still are being worked out on Trump\u2019s plan<\/p>\n

NATO itself doesn\u2019t send weapons to Ukraine or otherwise own or handle arms \u2014 that is done by its 32 member nations \u2014 but it does coordinate the deliveries of weapons to a logistics hub in Poland, bordering Ukraine. The alliance itself ships items like medical supplies and fuel. <\/p>\n

\u201cAllies continue to work to ensure that Ukraine has the support they need to defend themselves against Russia\u2019s aggression,\u201d NATO spokesperson Allison Hart said. \u201cThis includes urgent efforts to procure key supplies from the United States, including air defense and ammunition.\u201d<\/p>\n

Germany, Spain and other European countries possess Patriot missile systems, and some have placed orders for more, Rubio said.<\/p>\n

The U.S. is encouraging its NATO allies to provide \u201cthe defensive systems that Ukraine seeks \u2026 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,\u201d Rubio said.<\/p>\n

A senior NATO military official said Trump spoke to NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte about the plan but noted that the details were \u201cstill being worked out.\u201d<\/p>\n

U.S. weapons already in Europe could be transferred to Ukraine under Trump\u2019s proposal, as could American-made weapons previously purchased by allies.<\/p>\n

\u201cNATO has effective mechanisms in place to make something like this possible,\u201d the official said.<\/p>\n

A senior European defense official said it was their understanding that European nations would purchase U.S. weapons for Ukraine under the plan.<\/p>\n

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.<\/p>\n

Ukraine is seeking more coveted Patriot air defense systems<\/p>\n

Russia has recently sought to overwhelm Ukraine\u2019s air defenses by launching major aerial attacks. This week, Russia fired more than 700 attack and decoy drones<\/a> at Ukraine, topping previous barrages for the third time in two weeks.<\/p>\n

Ukraine has asked other countries to supply it with an additional 10 Patriot systems and missiles, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday. Germany is ready to provide two systems, and Norway has agreed to supply one, he said.<\/p>\n

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Thursday that officials \u201cstand ready to acquire additional Patriot systems from the U.S. and make them available to Ukraine.\u201d <\/p>\n

Asked how many Patriot systems Germany is interested in buying, Merz didn\u2019t give a number. But he said he spoke to Trump a week ago \u201cand asked him to deliver these systems.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to the Patriots, the weaponry that could be sold to NATO members includes advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles, shorter-range missiles and Howitzer rounds, according to a person familiar with the internal White House debate. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private discussions.<\/p>\n

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment seeking more details.<\/p>\n

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who has been in touch with Trump in recent days, said it\u2019s in U.S. national security interests to sell weapons to Ukraine, and \u201cEurope can pay for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have the best weapons. They sure as hell know how to use them,\u201d Graham said in an AP interview in Rome<\/a> while attending a meeting on the sidelines of a Ukraine recovery conference.<\/p>\n

Allies purchasing U.S. weapons for Ukraine would get around a possible stalemate in funding for Kyiv once an aid package approved last year<\/a> runs out. Even with broad support in Congress for backing Ukraine, it\u2019s unclear if more funding would be approved.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s evolving stance on Putin<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s efforts to facilitate Ukraine\u2019s weapon supply come as he has signaled his displeasure<\/a> with Russian President Vladimir Putin. At a Cabinet meeting this week, he said he was \u201cnot happy\u201d with Putin over a conflict that was \u201ckilling a lot of people\u201d on both sides.<\/p>\n

Russia\u2019s bigger army is pressing hard<\/a> on parts of the 620-mile (1,000-kilometer) front line, where thousands of soldiers on both sides have died since the Kremlin ordered the invasion<\/a> in February 2022.<\/p>\n

Graham says Trump has given him the go-ahead to push forward with a bill he\u2019s co-sponsoring that calls, in part, for a 500% tariff<\/a> on goods imported from countries that continue to buy Russian oil. Trump said Tuesday that he\u2019s \u201clooking at it very strongly.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the NBC News interview, Trump teased that he will make a major announcement on Russia next week.<\/p>\n

The U.S. president also has had a tumultuous relationship with Zelenskyy, which reached a low point during an Oval Office blowup in February<\/a> when Trump berated him for being \u201cdisrespectful.\u201d The relationship has since shown signs of rebounding.<\/p>\n

The two leaders spoke by phone last week about Ukraine\u2019s air defenses. Zelenskyy said Thursday that talks with Trump have been \u201cvery constructive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Impact of the latest Russian attacks<\/p>\n

In the latest attacks, a Russian drone barrage targeted the center of Kharkiv<\/a> just before dawn Friday, injuring nine people and damaging a maternity hospital in Ukraine\u2019s second-largest city, officials said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no silence in Ukraine,\u201d Zelenskyy said. A daytime drone attack on the southern city of Odesa also injured nine.<\/p>\n

Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, has endured repeated and intensifying drone attacks<\/a> in recent weeks, as have many other regions of the country, mostly at night.<\/p>\n

Zelenskyy urged Ukraine\u2019s Western partners to quickly follow through on pledges they made at the international meeting in Rome<\/a> on Thursday. Ukraine needs more interceptor drones to bring down Russian-made Shahed drones<\/a>, he said.<\/p>\n

Authorities said Friday that they\u2019re establishing a comprehensive drone interception system under a project called Clear Sky. It includes a $6.2 million investment in interceptor drones, operator training and new mobile response units, the Kyiv Military Administration said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe found a solution. … That\u2019s the key,\u201d Zelenskyy said. \u201cWe need financing. And then, we will intercept.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Lee reported from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Novikov from Kyiv, Ukraine; and Burrows from London. AP writers Lorne Cook in Brussels, Geir Moulson in Berlin, Lisa Mascaro in Washington and Nicole Winfield in Rome contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Follow AP\u2019s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/russia-ukraine<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 The United States is selling weapons to its NATO allies in Europe so they can…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":257474,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7654],"tags":[98717,32,2595,2000,299,1945,4179,10680,47778,2820,2992,2821,56247,285,7661,657,7662,333,2601,10673,263],"class_list":{"0":"post-257473","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ukraine","8":"tag-allison-hart","9":"tag-donald-trump","10":"tag-drones","11":"tag-eu","12":"tag-europe","13":"tag-friedrich-merz","14":"tag-general-news","15":"tag-government-and-politics","16":"tag-lindsey-graham","17":"tag-marco-rubio","18":"tag-mark-rutte","19":"tag-nato","20":"tag-north-atlantic-treaty-organization","21":"tag-politics","22":"tag-russia-ukraine-war","23":"tag-ukraine","24":"tag-ukraine-government","25":"tag-vladimir-putin","26":"tag-volodymyr-zelenskyy","27":"tag-washington-news","28":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=257473"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257473\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/257474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=257473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=257473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=257473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}