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 in Russia’s drone and missile attacks, President Donald Trump and his chief diplomat said.
“We’re sending weapons to NATO, and NATO is paying for those weapons, 100%,” Trump said in an interview with NBC News late Thursday. “So what we’re 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.”
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.
“It’s 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,” Rubio told reporters during a visit to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Ukraine badly needs more U.S.-made Patriot air defense systems to stop Russian ballistic and cruise missiles. The Trump administration has gone back and forth about providing more vital military aid to Ukraine more than three years into Russia’s invasion.
After a brief pause in some weapons shipments, Trump said he would keep sending defensive weapons to Ukraine. U.S. officials said this week that some were on their way.
Details still are being worked out on Trump’s plan
NATO itself doesn’t send weapons to Ukraine or otherwise own or handle arms — that is done by its 32 member nations — 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.
“Allies continue to work to ensure that Ukraine has the support they need to defend themselves against Russia’s aggression,” NATO spokesperson Allison Hart said. “This includes urgent efforts to procure key supplies from the United States, including air defense and ammunition.”
Germany, Spain and other European countries possess Patriot missile systems, and some have placed orders for more, Rubio said.
The U.S. is encouraging its NATO allies to provide “the defensive systems that Ukraine seeks … 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,” Rubio said.
A senior NATO military official said Trump spoke to NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte about the plan but noted that the details were “still being worked out.”
U.S. weapons already in Europe could be transferred to Ukraine under Trump’s proposal, as could American-made weapons previously purchased by allies.
“NATO has effective mechanisms in place to make something like this possible,” the official said.
A senior European defense official said it was their understanding that European nations would purchase U.S. weapons for Ukraine under the plan.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
Ukraine is seeking more coveted Patriot air defense systems
Russia has recently sought to overwhelm Ukraine’s air defenses by launching major aerial attacks. This week, Russia fired more than 700 attack and decoy drones at Ukraine, topping previous barrages for the third time in two weeks.
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.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Thursday that officials “stand ready to acquire additional Patriot systems from the U.S. and make them available to Ukraine.”
Asked how many Patriot systems Germany is interested in buying, Merz didn’t give a number. But he said he spoke to Trump a week ago “and asked him to deliver these systems.”
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.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment seeking more details.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who has been in touch with Trump in recent days, said it’s in U.S. national security interests to sell weapons to Ukraine, and “Europe can pay for them.”
“We have the best weapons. They sure as hell know how to use them,” Graham said in an AP interview in Rome while attending a meeting on the sidelines of a Ukraine recovery conference.
Allies purchasing U.S. weapons for Ukraine would get around a possible stalemate in funding for Kyiv once an aid package approved last year runs out. Even with broad support in Congress for backing Ukraine, it’s unclear if more funding would be approved.
Trump’s evolving stance on Putin
Trump’s efforts to facilitate Ukraine’s weapon supply come as he has signaled his displeasure with Russian President Vladimir Putin. At a Cabinet meeting this week, he said he was “not happy” with Putin over a conflict that was “killing a lot of people” on both sides.
Russia’s bigger army is pressing hard 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 in February 2022.
Graham says Trump has given him the go-ahead to push forward with a bill he’s co-sponsoring that calls, in part, for a 500% tariff on goods imported from countries that continue to buy Russian oil. Trump said Tuesday that he’s “looking at it very strongly.”
In the NBC News interview, Trump teased that he will make a major announcement on Russia next week.
The U.S. president also has had a tumultuous relationship with Zelenskyy, which reached a low point during an Oval Office blowup in February when Trump berated him for being “disrespectful.” The relationship has since shown signs of rebounding.
The two leaders spoke by phone last week about Ukraine’s air defenses. Zelenskyy said Thursday that talks with Trump have been “very constructive.”
Impact of the latest Russian attacks
In the latest attacks, a Russian drone barrage targeted the center of Kharkiv just before dawn Friday, injuring nine people and damaging a maternity hospital in Ukraine’s second-largest city, officials said.
“There is no silence in Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said. A daytime drone attack on the southern city of Odesa also injured nine.
Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, has endured repeated and intensifying drone attacks in recent weeks, as have many other regions of the country, mostly at night.
Zelenskyy urged Ukraine’s Western partners to quickly follow through on pledges they made at the international meeting in Rome on Thursday. Ukraine needs more interceptor drones to bring down Russian-made Shahed drones, he said.
