US Sells $1 Billion In Arms To Europe To Transfer To Ukraine

Remembering the horror of being occupied by a hostile power like Nazi Germany and recognizing the similar threat now posed by Russia, European countries are stepping up to purchase US weapons on Ukraine's priority list for transfer to the Ukrainian military. 

The Europeans realize that if Ukraine falls, they are next, so they are essentially paying Ukraine to hold off Russia while they upgrade and prepare their own defense. JL

Daniel Michaels and Lara Seligman report in the Wall Street Journal:

Four European countries are buying U.S. military equipment valued at roughly $1 billion for delivery to Kyiv’s forces. The countries are the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Denmark. The deals were coordinated by NATO which, with Ukraine, have established a shopping list of Kyiv’s requirements for lethal and nonlethal equipment,   The packages include ammunition, critical equipment and air-defense equipment, including Patriot interceptor missiles. As part of the effort to arm Ukraine, the U.S. also struck an agreement with Berlin under which Germany would send additional Patriot air-defense systems to Kyiv.

In one of the clearest demonstrations to date of how the West’s approach to arming Ukraine against Russia is shifting under President Trump, four European countries are buying U.S. military equipment valued at roughly $1 billion for delivery to Kyiv’s forces.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, after a phone call with Trump about the war, said Tuesday on X that he had discussed the European purchases and “our bilateral defense cooperation with America.”

“By selling American-made weapons to NATO countries, President Trump is generating billions of dollars for U.S. industries while getting Europe to take responsibility for its own defense,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said.

The European purchases, in two separate transactions coordinated by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, are expected to be the first of many funded by European governments and Canada following an agreement in principle earlier this summer.

Trump has balked at providing U.S. weapons directly to Ukraine, as the Biden administration did, but he has signaled openness to selling the embattled country American arms. Trump and his senior officials have also said that Europe should shoulder more of the burden of supporting Ukraine because it is closer to them, and the U.S. is focused on China and the Pacific. The Netherlands on Monday agreed to the first $500 million purchase, and a consortium of Denmark, Sweden and Norway on Tuesday agreed to a similar purchase. The deals were coordinated by NATO following an agreement at the White House on July 14 between Trump and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and earlier discussions among leaders at the alliance’s annual summit in June.

The packages include ammunition, critical equipment and air-defense equipment, including Patriot interceptor missiles.

“This is about getting Ukraine the equipment it urgently needs now to defend itself against Russian aggression,” said Rutte, a former Dutch prime minister.

“Thank you! This cooperation with NATO countries will continue,” Zelensky said on X about the deals.

NATO and Ukraine have established a shopping list of Kyiv’s requirements for lethal and nonlethal equipment, dubbed the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List. NATO, Ukraine and NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, U.S. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, will ensure the packages meet Kyiv’s needs. NATO is dividing the list into packages valued at roughly $500 million apiece.

Governments are making financial commitments toward the packages and NATO, which has pledged “rapid delivery from U.S. stockpiles,” will coordinate delivery of the arms to Ukraine.

Rutte said he had “written to all NATO Allies, urging them to contribute toward this burden-sharing initiative, and I expect further significant announcements from other Allies soon.”

Elements of Patriot missile-defense system on display in Greifswald, Germany. Photo: Bernd WUESTNECK/Zuma Press

Deliveries of American weapons to Kyiv that were authorized by the Biden administration are still flowing across the border from Poland. Some of those weapons—primarily munitions like Patriot interceptors—were paused in June as part of a Pentagon review of U.S. munitions stockpiles. But those deliveries have since resumed, officials said.

As part of the effort to arm Ukraine, the U.S. struck an agreement with Berlin under which Germany would send additional Patriot air-defense systems to Kyiv. Ukraine is set to receive the first two of these systems in the coming days, the German government said Friday. In exchange, Germany will be the first nation to receive the newest Patriot systems off the U.S. production line at “an accelerated pace,” according to a release from the German government.

To facilitate this agreement, the Pentagon moved Germany ahead of Switzerland in the queue for the next Patriots, The Wall Street Journal previously reported. The U.S. plans to reshuffle future Patriot deliveries as additional countries sign on to send the systems from their arsenals to Ukraine, a senior U.S. official said.