Source : BRICS NEWS
WASHINGTON, November 3 – The United States is planning to ask its NATO allies to contribute more money to a programme that funds weapons deliveries to Ukraine, according to a report shared by BRICS News on X.
The report, first published by Bloomberg News on Monday (November 2) and carried by Reuters, said Washington could make the request as soon as this month. Bloomberg cited people familiar with the matter. Reuters said it could not immediately verify the report.
The move would place more of the financial burden for arming Kyiv on European and other allied governments, a theme the administration of President Donald Trump has pressed repeatedly since returning to office.
Bloomberg did not say how much extra money the US would seek, or which allies would be asked to contribute the most. The request is expected to be raised with allies in the coming weeks, according to the report.
Under the current approach, European and other allied governments pay for American-made weapons that are then supplied to Kyiv, rather than Washington drawing on its own budget. The State Department’s notice for the Patriot sale described it as funded entirely by partners and allies.
The report comes days after the US State Department approved a possible sale of 500 Patriot PAC-3 MSE interceptor missiles to Ukraine. According to the State Department, the purchase is to be paid for with donations from Canada, Germany and Norway routed through a programme called US JUMPSTART, together with Ukrainian national funds financed by the European Union’s Ukraine Support Loan. The department said no US funds are involved in that sale.
JUMPSTART, according to a Pentagon website, uses donations from allies and partners to buy weapons, services and training for Ukraine through the US Foreign Military Sales system. The programme was used in August to buy air-launched cruise missiles for Kyiv.
Ukraine has long said it urgently needs more air-defence interceptors to counter waves of Russian missiles. Patriot is regarded as the most effective system Kyiv has against fast-moving ballistic missiles.
Even so, the Patriot missiles in the latest approval are yet to be manufactured. Two people briefed on the decision told Reuters they are not expected to be delivered until a couple of years into the 2030s, and Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence is said to be urging the Pentagon to bring that date forward, possibly by drawing on missiles already in the US arsenal.
A notification of a possible sale sets a ceiling and is not a confirmed order. A formal offer still has to be accepted and donor funding arrangements completed before any contract is placed.
Delays in missile deliveries have added to tensions between Kyiv and Washington. Mr Trump has criticised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy over Ukraine’s attacks on Russian oil refineries.
In July, the US Army awarded Lockheed Martin a contract worth up to $58.6 billion to produce Patriot interceptor missiles. Lockheed has said the deal would allow it to triple PAC-3 MSE production capacity by the end of 2030, which could eventually ease the backlog of orders from the US and its partners.
No details have yet been released on how much additional money Washington will ask NATO members to provide, or how individual allies will respond. NATO had not commented publicly on the report at the time of writing.
Source: BRICS News on X
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