Denmark, Netherlands, Sweden ready to buy Patriot missiles from US for Ukraine

Trump on Monday announced a tougher line on Moscow over its war in Ukraine, as he gave the Kremlin 50 days to end the fighting or face massive new economic sanctions, Ukrinform reports, citing Euractiv.

Together with NATO chief Mark Rutte, he also unveiled a deal under which European members of the NATO alliance would buy billions of dollars of arms from the United States – including Patriot anti-missile batteries – and send them to Kyiv.

Speaking to reporters at the European Council headquarters in Brussels, Denmark’s Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said his country was ready to purchase U.S. weapons for Ukraine.

“I am proud to say we’re the biggest supporter of Ukraine per capita, so of course we’re willing to do that,” Rasmussen said, adding that “it goes hand in hand with the Danish model,” Deutsche Welle quoted him as saying.

The Danish model is a mechanism to provide direct support for Ukraine’s defense industry Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Denmark has provided approximately EUR 9 billion in military support and around EUR 867 million in civilian contribution, according to Denmark’s foreign ministry.

Rasmussen clarified that while Denmark does not have any of its own Patriot missiles, his government should “lean into that” and “provide the money” to purchase the highly advanced missile defense systems.

“We must work out the details,” Rasmussen explained.

He also said Trump’s new messaging on Russia and Ukraine is “very, very important in terms of accepting providing weapons, but also the sanctions scheme.”

Rasmussen also remarked that Trump’s recent messages on Russia and Ukraine are “very, very important” for the arms supply effort and the broader sanctions framework.

His Dutch counterpart Caspar Veldkamp said the Netherlands was looking into participating in the scheme “with a positive inclination”.

“We will look into what we can do in relation to Mr Trump’s announcements and take it from there,” he said.

Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson confirmed Sweden would also contribute to the joint effort to boost arms deliveries to Ukraine.

“We welcome the American decision to make possible increased sanctions against Russia and to pave the way for the delivery of Patriots and other weapon systems to Ukraine,” he said in an emailed comment to Reuters.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, after meeting with President Trump in Washington on July 14, said the U.S. had agreed to sell significant volumes of weaponry to NATO members for further transfer to Ukraine, while taking into account its own defense needs.

Trump also reiterated that the U.S. would supply Patriot missiles to bolster Ukraine’s air defenses, stating that Putin “talks nice and then bombs everybody in the evening.”

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz added that Germany might also consider purchasing Patriot systems from the U.S. to supply them to Ukraine.

Photo: dpa