A historic agreement involving rare earth minerals was recently signed between Ukraine and the Trump administration, reinforcing broader defense efforts initiated under the Biden years, which included ramped-up deliveries of air defense systems to help Ukraine push back against Russian aggression.
As part of this evolving effort, a Patriot missile defense system originally located in Israel is now being refurbished to be sent to Ukraine. At the same time, talks are underway among NATO partners to coordinate additional Patriot system deliveries from Germany or Greece, according to four individuals who spoke with The New York Times.
“President Trump has been clear: He wants the war in Ukraine to end and the killing to stop,” said National Security Council spokesman James Hewitt to the Times. He declined to give further details on the transfer plans.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has stepped into a dual role, now also serving as acting national security adviser. Rubio has long advocated for Ukraine, tracing back to his tenure as the lead Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee during the Biden presidency, where he consistently supported pushing back on Russian expansionism.
A former Biden White House official confirmed to the Times that the decision to transfer Israel’s Patriot system to Ukraine had already been in motion as early as September, before Trump won the November election. Trump has often expressed a desire to scale back unlimited aid to Ukraine while promoting negotiations with Vladimir Putin to end the war.
In a statement to the Times, the Pentagon said it is still delivering hardware to Ukraine based on prior authorizations.
Although President Trump had previously expressed frustration with Ukraine’s leadership, the Times noted that his stance has shifted. After a series of tense exchanges with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Trump appears to have sharpened his criticism of Russia while becoming more receptive to Ukraine’s security needs.
Their most recent meeting took place at the funeral of Pope Francis, where Trump and Zelenskyy finalized the long-awaited minerals agreement. Supporters of the deal highlight that it offers Ukraine a form of strategic protection against Russian aggression while securing U.S. access to rare earth resources.
President Zelenskyy confirmed Saturday in Kyiv that the minerals deal had prompted Western allies to accelerate the provision of advanced missile defenses.
Zelenskyy, who has extended martial law and suspended democratic processes until August — a move that Trump has disapproved of — has repeatedly asked the U.S. to speed up Patriot deliveries.
These systems include radar and missile interceptors designed to shoot down incoming threats.
“We are ready to purchase the necessary number of Patriot systems for our country,”Zelenskyy declared. “This is not about charity.”
Trump acknowledged that Zelenskyy brought up the issue of Patriots during their brief interaction at the papal funeral.“He told me that he needs more weapons,” Trump told reporters. “He’s been saying that for three years. Look, he wants to do something good for his country.”
While Trump continues to encourage a truce or broader peace agreement, analysts warn that Russia is escalating its missile campaign. Kateryna Stepanenko of the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War told the Times that the increase in strikes is part of a larger psychological effort.
“Part of it is a psychological and political campaign that the Kremlin is waging, in which it’s trying to scare Ukrainian people into essentially accepting capitulation, when the realities of the battlefield for Russia are far from Russia actually winning,” she said.
{Matzav.com}