Zelenskyy Revealed How He Plans To Obtain Missiles For The Patriot System On An Expedited Basis
- 1.11.2026, 9:19
Ukraine needs ammunition as early as this winter.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine is counting on Europe’s support to finance the purchase of 500 Patriot missiles from the United States. At the same time, to expedite deliveries, he plans to borrow them against the guarantee of future deliveries from the United States.
This was reported by “Ukrinform”.
“We have an idea of what this winter will bring. This isn’t enough. It’s not enough to protect… 500 missiles… We are grateful to the United States of America. This is a very good offer. Of course, we need to raise funds for this proposal. I am confident that we will secure the necessary funding thanks to our partners,” he told our partners.
The Ukrainian president explained that missile deliveries have been postponed for several years (media reports had suggested deliveries might occur after 2030). The reason lies in the specifics of production.
At the same time, the President of Ukraine emphasized that the U.S. is providing—or is prepared to provide—Ukraine with weapons from its stockpiles, albeit slowly; however, the problem is that this pace is insufficient to adequately protect Ukrainians.
Zelenskyy added that Ukraine continues to work bilaterally with Europe and other countries. According to him, if Ukraine were to rely exclusively on missiles from the U.S., the country would be in serious trouble.
However, the president emphasized that the announced package from the United States remains very important. But in order to speed up the delivery of missiles that are needed right now, Ukraine plans to discuss the possibility of borrowing them from partners, backed by guarantees of future deliveries from the U.S.
“Several times throughout this war, we’ve carried out… and during various discussions, this approach has worked—when you take turns. I’ll try to do this with some partners. That package—500 (missiles, —ed.)—we can take 10, 20, 30 from one partner, and 10, 10, 30 and 30 (10, 20, 30) from another. Then, from that American package, we’ll return some with interest or, perhaps, without interest. In other words, this is now a major ongoing daily task,” Zelenskyy concluded.
What led up to this
As a reminder, on October 30, the U.S. State Department officially approved the sale of 500 PAC-3 missiles to Ukraine for the Patriot air defense systems. The deal was valued at $2.1 billion.
However, shortly thereafter, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy made it clear that these deliveries would not begin for several years, whereas they are needed right now—this winter. In light of this, he called on partners to transfer the missiles from their stockpiles immediately.
In addition, media outlets reported that, according to their information, if Ukraine relies on the U.S. arms package, it will not be able to receive these 500 missiles until after 2030.