- President Donald Trump ordered a pause in US military aid for Ukraine.
- An advisor to Ukraine’s president told BI the decision puts a spotlight on Patriot air defenses.
- The US-made Patriot missile batteries have been critical to defending Ukraine from Russian attacks.
KYIV, Ukraine — President Donald Trump’s decision to freeze military aid to Ukraine is fueling concerns about the future of key weapons, particularly its American-made Patriot air defense systems.
“For us, the most critical positions are, undoubtedly, everything related to missile defense systems, particularly the Patriot systems. The largest production of these is in the United States,” Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, told Business Insider during an interview in Kyiv on Tuesday.
Trump on Monday ordered a pause in the delivery of military aid to Ukraine to pressure Zelenskyy into peace talks with Russia on unfavorable terms. The move, though not necessarily surprising, has escalated the already tense situation following a contentious Oval Office meeting last week.
Podolyak, speaking through a translator, said that Ukraine still needs to identify which areas of US security assistance would be affected by Trump’s aid decision and which weapons or ammunition could be replaced by other partner nations.
He singled out Ukraine’s Patriot air defenses as an important concern and said Kyiv would continue to work with the US and Europe to find ways to protect civilians and infrastructure from regular Russian bombardments.
“Russia is not stopping its attacks; it continues missile strikes on civilians and critical infrastructure. Russia is not stopping and will not stop,” Podolyak said. “Therefore, we will continue to look for ways to counter Russian strikes — both across the entire territory of Ukraine and along the front line.”
“We will search for available tools on the global market and use them to destroy Russia’s capabilities,” he said.
Patriots have been crucial
The American-made MIM-104 Patriot surface-to-air missile system manufactured by Lockheed Martin and Raytheon has played a crucial role in protecting Ukraine from Russian attacks since Kyiv first obtained it from the US nearly two years ago.
Ukraine now reportedly operates six Patriot systems at undisclosed locations around the country. These batteries have helped Kyiv shoot down Russian ballistic missiles, including some that the Kremlin claimed were unstoppable.
The US is not alone in providing Patriots; other NATO countries like Germany and the Netherlands have provided Ukraine with batteries and missile interceptors. But Trump’s decision to pause aid raises questions about the future of what is now Kyiv’s top air defense asset.
Ukraine is said to be running low on Patriot interceptor missiles, for which the US has been a key supplier. Halting further supply could prove detrimental.
Trump’s move was a sobering moment for Ukraine. The Biden administration pledged more than $65 billion in security assistance to Ukraine after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
On Tuesday, in Kyiv, locals expressed frustration and anger with the new military aid pause in conversations with BI.
“There [are] consequences for the front-line cities,” said one local resident, who introduced himself as Viktor and didn’t give his last name. “Lack of weapons will result in more bombing of those cities. If we are talking about air defense — here in Kyiv and other cities where civilians will die because we don’t have enough Patriots, for example.”
The military aid pause escalates a substantial rift between Washington and Kyiv, coming just a few days after Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated Zelenskyy at the White House over peace negotiations. Ukraine’s leader left without signing an anticipated rare-earth-minerals deal.
Zelenskyy said Tuesday that it was “regrettable” how the meeting unfolded and that it was “time to make things right.”
“Regarding the agreement on minerals and security, Ukraine is ready to sign it in any time and in any convenient format,” he wrote on social media. “We see this agreement as a step toward greater security and solid security guarantees, and I truly hope it will work effectively.”
