Ukraine is preparing a contract to buy 25 Patriot systems, — Zelenskyy

During his visit to Washington, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine is working on a contract for the supply of 25 Patriot air defence systems. According to him, the supply will last for several years.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this during a meeting with journalists, according to «Suspilne».

The President clarified that 25 systems are a request from the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. At the same time, it is impossible to receive the entire amount at once, so it is planned to supply a certain number of systems annually.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed that one of the main difficulties is the queue for the production of Patriot systems for other countries.

«We will receive these 25 systems every year — a different number in different years. The White House can change the queue if there is political will to do so. We understand which European countries can give us this priority. There is more positive news — we are now working to get the necessary decisions», the President said.

According to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a number of key European NATO member states have Patriot systems belonging to the United States. Ukraine may receive part of these systems if the White House decides to do so.

The President also said that funding for the purchase of 25 Patriot systems is planned to be financed through the use of frozen Russian assets. According to him, the financial basis for this deal has already been worked out.

«Of course, we also need to work on other financial sources. We currently have 28 bilateral security agreements with various countries. Finding funds and providing prepayments is a task that we can implement within the framework of these agreements», Volodymyr Zelenskyy added.

As a reminder, the United States has resumed the programme to develop a new interceptor missile for the Patriot air defence system. The work was suspended in 2024, but now it has been funded again.

As a reminder, US President Donald Trump announced his intention to provide Ukraine with additional weapons, including Patriot missile defence systems. He suggested that European countries should transfer their weapons systems to Ukraine and receive American weapons in return. However, according to Reuters, even Washington's closest allies were not informed of these plans in advance.

At the same time, it was previously reported that Washington had temporarily suspended the transfer of missiles for Patriot air defence systems to Ukraine due to a shortage of these munitions in its own military stockpiles.