The US Is Reshuffling Global Weapons Deliveries, Prioritizing Ukraine

The US appears to be working to make good on its promise to send more weapons to Ukraine. It is reprioritizing deliveries of crucial systems, delaying delivery to some countries while speeding them to countries that will ship them to Ukraine. 

This seems to be an element in the White House's determination to show Putin that he will suffer for not agreeing to US desire for peace negotiations. JL

Lara Seligman and colleagues report in the Wall Street Journal:

As countries sign on to send weapons from their arsenals to Ukraine, the administration will further reshuffle planned future deliveries, giving priority to those allies. The US has moved Germany ahead of Switzerland for the next Patriot air-defense systems off the production line, paving the way for Berlin to send two Patriots it already has to Ukraine. More deals between the U.S. and its allies to free up additional weapons are likely to be worked out over the next week. “The timelines for new production are years, but Ukraine needs these capabilities now.”

The Trump administration has moved Germany ahead of Switzerland for the next Patriot air-defense systems off the production line, paving the way for Berlin to send two Patriots it already has to Ukraine, according to three U.S. officials.

The U.S. promise to quickly replace Germany’s Patriots is the first instance of the Pentagon facilitating weapons deliveries for Ukraine since President Trump announced earlier this month that he favored sending more arms.

But the move also underscored the difficulty in providing Patriots and other weapons to Kyiv, as defense production lines in the West struggle to keep up with Ukraine’s appeals for help defending its cities and front line forces against increasing Russian missile and drone attacks.

The effort to speed Patriots to Ukraine by backfilling Germany with systems from the American production line is consistent with Trump’s vow to have NATO allies pay the U.S. as part of providing additional weapons for Ukraine. 

The initial deal is similar to a move made in 2024 by the Biden administration, which moved Ukraine to the front of the line to receive air defense interceptors directly from the U.S.

As additional countries sign on to send Patriots from their arsenals to Ukraine, the Trump administration will further reshuffle planned future deliveries, giving priority to those allies, a senior U.S. official said.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky stood by a Patriot system during a visit to a military training area in Germany last year. Photo: Jens Buettner/DPA/Associated Press

More deals between the U.S. and its allies to free up additional weapons are likely to be worked out over the next week. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will meet virtually with other NATO defense chiefs on Monday to discuss aid for Kyiv.

A separate meeting Wednesday involving countries that own Patriots will be chaired by Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, Supreme Allied Commander Europe and chief of European Command.

“The timelines for new production are years and years, but Ukraine needs these capabilities now,” said Alina Polyakova, head of the Center for European Policy Analysis think tank.

 

The Swiss government said that the U.S. “has decided to reprioritize the delivery of Patriot ground-based air defense systems” as part of a U.S. effort to increase support for Ukraine. Switzerland has purchased five Patriot systems that were due to be delivered between 2026 and 2028. The timeline for those deliveries is now unclear.

Ukraine currently has only a handful of Patriot systems, donated by the U.S. and other countries, and has been seeking more to fend off escalating Russian attacks. Each Patriot, which are built by RTX, previously Raytheon, consists of multiple launchers, a radar, a command and control element and interceptor missiles.

The Trump administration is seeking to negotiate individual deals with North Atlantic Treaty Organization members to buy arms for Ukraine, according to a senior U.S. official. The Defense Department will oversee that effort.

Those deals will go beyond Patriots and will include offensive and defensive weapons that the NATO countries will provide Kyiv and then repurchase from the U.S. Germany, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, Britain, Canada and Finland have already committed to supporting the initiative, a NATO official said. Other European countries could join in aiding Kyiv once the details of the plan are hashed out, according to several senior European officials.

 

A critical issue is how long it will take for additional weapons to arrive in Ukraine, according to U.S. and European officials involved in logistics and military supply chains. Trump gave Russia a deadline of 50 days to negotiate a deal or face “very significant” tariffs and sanctions, including on its trading partners. 

Russia is likely to surge its war efforts before the U.S. deadline expires, analysts said. 

“Fifty days is too long to give Russia. They have shown no inclination to even negotiate in good faith,” said Mick Mulroy, a former Pentagon official and CIA officer. “They will do everything they can to advance in Ukraine over the next 50 days.” 

Hegseth welcomed German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius to the Pentagon on Monday, in part to discuss the Patriot deal. Trump has portrayed it as a done deal. “They are coming in from Germany,” he told reporters on Tuesday.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Ukraine would also receive long-range missiles “very shortly” in the wake of the new Trump initiative, though he declined to give specifics.

“The guidance that I’ve been given has been to move out as quickly as possible. So we’re doing that,” Grynkewich said Wednesday in Germany, adding that he is looking at additional weapons that may be sent to meet Ukraine’s needs.

The idea that the U.S. will now sell, rather than continue to donate, weapons for Ukraine has been key to Trump’s backing for additional arms for Ukraine. 

“We’ve made a deal today where we are going to be sending them weapons and they are going to be paying for them. We, the United States, won’t be having any payment made,” Trump said on Monday during a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office. 

But European capitals are waiting for clarification from Washington on the types of ammunition and weapons that will be delivered to Ukraine, the timetable for deliveries, and whether the U.S. or other countries will impose restrictions on what targets Western-made munitions could be used against in Russia.

Moscow warned Thursday that countries that supply Ukraine with weapons were subject to attack.

“Moscow considers itself entitled to attack the military facilities of countries that allow Kyiv to strike deep into Russia with their weapons,” said Maria Zakharova, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman. “In the event of further escalation of the conflict, we will respond decisively and with equivalent force.”