US sells $1.5bn in arms to Europe for Ukraine, sealing shift in weapons pipeline

The Australian

a day ago

Trump has stopped sending US weapons to Kyiv, but is willing to let allies buy them for transfer to Ukraine.
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 US military equipment valued at roughly $US1 billion ($1.5bn) for delivery to Kyiv's forces.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksy, after a phone call with Trump about the war, said on X that he had discussed the European purchases and 'our bilateral defence co-operation with America.'
The European purchases, in two separate transactions co-ordinated by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, are expected to be the first of many funded by European governments and Canada following an agreement in principle earlier this summer. — Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Ð'олодимир Зеленсьаий (@ZelenskyyUa) August 5, 2025
Trump has baulked at providing US weapons directly to Ukraine, as the Biden administration did, but he has signalled 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 US 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 co-ordinated 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-defence 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 co-operation 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, US 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 US stockpiles,' will co-ordinate 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.'
Deliveries of American weapons to Kyiv that were authorised 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 US munitions stockpiles. But those deliveries have since resumed, officials said.
As part of the effort to arm Ukraine, the US struck an agreement with Berlin under which Germany would send additional Patriot air-defence 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 US 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 US plans to reshuffle future Patriot deliveries as additional countries sign on to send the systems from their arsenals to Ukraine, a senior US official said. The Wall Street Journal
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