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Ukraine is waiting for further details of the “billions of dollars” worth of US military equipment promised by Donald Trump on Monday, amid confusion as to how many Patriot air defence systems will be sent to Kyiv.
At a meeting at the White House with the Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, on Monday, Trump said an unnamed country was ready to immediately provide “17 Patriots” as he said a “very big deal” had been agreed for European allies to buy weapons from the United States and then ship them to Ukraine.
Ukraine is currently believed to have only six functioning Patriot air defence batteries, which can intercept fast-moving Russian cruise and ballistic missiles.
Maj Gen Vadym Skibitskyi, the deputy head of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, the HUR, said it was unclear what the US president meant. “We don’t know exactly,” he said, adding that Ukraine was grateful for the assistance and had reacted “positively” to the White House’s announcement.
The general also confirmed that Trump and the Ukrainian president, Volodomyr Zelenskyy, had discussed the possibility of the US providing long-range Tomahawk missiles in a call earlier in July but no agreement had been reached.
Skibitskyi said Trump in his comments on Patriots could have been referring to interceptor missiles, launching stations or entire batteries comprising multiple launchers and radar and control systems, which cost more than a billion dollars each. “Seventeen is a huge number if we are talking about batteries. If it’s launchers, that’s possible,” he added.
Each Patriot system comes with six launchers. Germany has agreed to provide two Patriot systems, with the Netherlands donating a third, Skibitskyi said. “That would be 18 launchers for three batteries, which is close to 17. The US administration and the Pentagon will give us further details,” he added.
The possibility of the US providing long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, as discussed by Trump and Zelenskyy this month, is likely to enrage Vladimir Putin. The precision cruise missiles are capable of striking Moscow and have a range of 1,600km. Previous Ukrainian requests were rejected by the Biden administration.
During a call on 4 July, Trump asked Zelenskyy if he could hit the Russian capital and St Petersburg. According to Skibitskyi, Zelenskyy replied: “Yes, absolutely. We can if you give us the weapons”.
The Trump administration has so far not agreed to send Tomahawks. If it did provide the weapons, Ukraine would struggle to deploy them, Skibitskyi said. “They are not easy to use. The main launchers are combat ships or strategic bombers. We don’t have any strategic bomber aircraft,” he recognised.
But he said it was crucial Ukraine had the ability to conduct “kinetic” strikes deep inside Russia against high-value military targets. Discussions were ongoing with Washington over lifting restrictions imposed by the last administration on the use of Atacams, US provided missiles with a 300km range – about 190 miles.
The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that the Trump administration was likely to allow Atacams to be used inside Russia at their full range, and was considering sending additional missiles. Currently, they can only be fired into Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, and not used on Russian territory.
Skibitskyi said the Kremlin had already moved its strategic military bases more than 500km from its border with Ukraine. Kyiv was only able to hit them using unmanned kamikaze drones which can carry 5okg of explosives. Atacams, by contrast, have a 500kg payload and can cause greater destruction.
“It’s very important for us to get approval from the US to use long-range missiles,” he said. “We want to destroy and to disrupt, in accordance with Nato procedure.”
Zelenskyy said he had a “really good conversation” with Trump following Monday’s announcement of a big weapons package. He said he discussed with the US president how to achieve “a lasting and just peace” and to stop Russian bombardment of Ukrainian cities, which have been hit in recent weeks by hundreds of drones and missiles.
Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands on Tuesday said they wanted to participate in Trump’s plan for Europe to buy US weapons for Ukraine.
Politicians in Kyiv have broadly welcomed the improvement in relations with the US, following Zelenskyy’s disastrous White House meeting with Trump in February. But there was also frustration that US tariffs and secondary sanctions on Russia have been postponed again, with Trump setting a deadline of 50 days.
In an interview with the BBC, Trump said he was “disappointed, but not done” with Putin.
Russian officials have dismissed Trump’s threat as “hot air”, pointing out he has changed his mind several times on sanctions and other issues. “Trump issued a theatrical ultimatum to the Kremlin. The world shuddered, expecting the consequences … Russia didn’t care,” the former president Dmitry Medvedev wrote on X.
Trump’s envoy to Ukraine, Gen Keith Kellogg, is in Kyiv on a week-long visit. On Monday he met Zelenskyy and commander in chief Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi, as well as Kyrylo Budanov, Ukraine’s military intelligence chief and Skibitskyi. Kellogg was briefed on Russian plans for a summer offensive and on the latest from the frontline in the east, where Russian troops are advancing.
Skibitskyi said the US president had “more experienced” people around him than in his first presidential term and did not behave like a “classical” politician. “He’s more of a businessman. It isn’t easy to understand Mr Trump,” Skibitskyi added.
