Axios: Trump promised Zelensky to transfer 10 Patriot missiles and help find other ways to supply weapons

The US President Donald Trump, during his last telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, promised him to immediately send Ukraine 10 Patriot missiles and help find other ways to supply weapons.

This is reported by Axios, citing sources.

Volodymyr Zelensky, commenting on the conversation with Trump, had previously said that they had discussed air defense, but he did not indicate whether they had managed to agree on anything with Trump.

"We discussed the topic of air defense, I am grateful for the willingness to help. Patriot is the key to ballistic protection," the President of Ukraine said then, adding that the conversation with Trump was as productive as possible and the best ever.

The day before the conversation between the Ukrainian and American leaders, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called Trump with a request to unblock the supply of Patriot interceptor missiles — the US had suspended them when they were already heading to Ukraine.

Sources claim that Merz told Trump about Germanyʼs readiness to purchase Patriot batteries from the US and transfer them to Ukraine. In response, Trump suggested that Germany sell one of its existing Patriot batteries to Ukraine. Its cost would be divided between the US and Europe. Trump and Merz have not reached a final agreement on this issue, negotiations are ongoing.

Berlin insists that Germany has already transferred an "extremely large portion" of its Patriot systems to Ukraine — even more than the United States, if compared in proportions.

Meanwhile, a Trump adviser says Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has identified existing Patriot batteries in Germany and Greece that the US is willing to fund and transfer to Ukraine. However, the official says, “these conversations have been going on for months”.

Axios reports that Zelensky and his team are scheduled to meet with Trumpʼs envoy Keith Kellogg in Rome this week, hoping to get more specifics on future US arms shipments.

Back on April 10, Zelensky said that Ukraine had handed over to the US a large list of weapons that it was ready to purchase. In particular, it was about the transfer of no less than 10 Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems. At a briefing on April 17, Zelensky said that Ukraine was ready to buy at least 10 Patriot complexes from the US, and Trump promised that the US would work on this. Since then, there have been no significant developments on this issue.

On June 25, the US President, answering a Ukrainian journalistʼs question about the supply of Patriots to Ukraine, said: "I want us to be able to provide them."

"They want to get Patriot air defense missiles, and weʼll see if we can make some of them available. We need them too. Weʼve supplied them to Israel. And theyʼre very effective — 100%. Of course, they [the Ukrainians] want them too. I can see that youʼre very upset about that. I want us to be able to provide them," Trump said.

Stopping aid to Ukraine

Politico reported on July 2, citing sources, that the Pentagon is halting the delivery of some of the munitions to Ukraine that were allocated under former US President Joe Biden. This includes missiles for Patriot air defense systems. Military aid to Ukraine has been halted despite a report that it does not threaten the combat readiness of the US army.

White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly said the decision was made “to put America’s interests first”. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said Ukraine had not received any official notices about the suspension or revision of the schedules of US defense assistance deliveries approved by the previous administration. The Defense Ministry requested a telephone conversation with its US counterparts to clarify the details.

The US President Donald Trump promised on July 8 to send more weapons to Ukraine. In addition, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell officially announced the sending of “additional defensive weapons to Ukraine so that the Ukrainians can protect themselves while we work to ensure a lasting peace and stop the killing”. He did not specify what weapons were in question.

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