Ukraine’s concern about whether it will be able to secure additional US anti -aircraft systems Patriot, as stocks sent during Biden’s governance are exhausted and the Trump government appears to be reluctant to send new ones, according to Ukrainians and Western officials.

While Russia bombers Ukraine with drones and cruise missiles, those who cause the biggest fear are ballistic missiles and only Patriots can intercept them in a reliable way. The ballistic missiles travel at a speed of several miles per second and destroyed half of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in attacks on power plants in 2023 and 2024.

Their speed and size, coupled with their difficulty in stopping, have made ballistic missiles one of the most effective weapons in the Russian arsenal, especially at critical infrastructure.

Ukraine’s urgent need for Patriot became evident at the weekend, when the Ukrainian anti -aircraft forces failed to intercept the nine ballistic missiles launched on Saturday night and Sunday morning. According to Ukrainian anti -aircraft authorities, two of them targeted Kiev, where they are believed to be parked at least two Patriot points.

In addition to the ballistic missiles, Russia fired more than 900 drones and 65 cruise missiles on the same weekend, in one of the biggest attacks of the war, an indication that Moscow is stepping up its attacks after the relative recession in May. The majority of air attacks, which did not include ballistic missiles, were either interrupted or did not hit their goals, according to Ukrainian air defense.

US President Donald Trump condemned Russian attacks on Sunday night, but without promising additional military assistance. “Putin is literally crazy!” He wrote on the Truth Social platform.

Ukraine is calling on the Trump administration more Patriot and launchers’ missile systems, “which, in order to be honest, we do not have,” Foreign Minister Marko Rubio said during his listening to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday.

Rubio said the US is “encouraging” their allies to NATO to donate from their own Patriot systems, but added that “none of these countries want to leave”.

A European diplomat in Kiev noted that the US company Raytheon is still in the process of expanding its production lines to meet demand after 2022. “The US needs to maintain a certain stock for their own defense in the event of an attack by Iran or other opponent,” the diplomat said.

However, Ukrainian officials in Kiev estimate that the Trump government may be willing to sell in Ukraine more Patriot systems, instead of offering them as military assistance, as the previous administration did. A senior Ukrainian official said he did not expect the United States to block the sale of future anti -aircraft systems in Ukraine, but understands that the White House “is not going to give it free”.

“They think like entrepreneurs. If I give you something, you have to give me something in return, “he said. “We have to adapt to it.”

In the meantime, Russia’s allies continue to show their support. North Korea has supplied the Kremlin with about 250 ballistic missiles last fall, according to Ukrainian military intelligence services. Ukrainian air defense reports report that Russia used KN-23 North Korean rockets in six of the nine ballistic attacks of May, including Sunday’s mass attack.

The Trump government has allowed Germany to resell Patriot material in Ukraine after the signing of the Minerals between Kiev and Washington in April. It is noted that the US reserves a veto for any resale of US military equipment. In recent weeks, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has announced that Germany will grant Ukraine Patriot missiles along with four Iris-T systems, small to medium-range weapons, effectively against cruise missiles but not against ballistic missiles.

However, Berlin plans to send older PAC-2 missiles rather than the younger PAC-3s, which are much more effective against ballistic, according to a European diplomat.

The only other system that may be able to overthrow the ballistic missile is the European ASTER rocket, but which has not yet been proven, the diplomat added.

A senior official at the Ukrainian military espionage said that even the PAC-3s could not intercept Russia’s new interim ballistic missile, “Oreshnik”, which was presented in November.

Although Ukraine can be based on domestic anti -aircraft technology and Europe’s subscription for the interception of drones and cruise rockets, it continues to need patriots to deal with ballistic threats, the official said.
For other countries, the donation of rocket or anti -aircraft systems Patriot in Ukraine is a difficult decision, the Ukrainian official added, as it is an expensive equipment that is a critical part of every country’s national security.

NATO allies have been discussing another Patriot system for Ukraine for weeks, possibly from a European country, but no progress has been made, according to three European officials.

The issue of anti -aircraft defense is expected to be raised on the visit of US Secretary of Defense Pitt Hegshez to NATO in early June, where there may be a statement on a Patriot mission to Ukraine, but not by the United States.

The Trump government, according to him, avoids loud announcements about weapons missions to Kiev, believing that they may undermine negotiations.

“They seem to believe that if there is a announcement for a Patriot missile mission to Ukraine, it will anger Putin,” he said. “They are very concerned that this could endanger any future peace negotiation.”