'Ready to pay $15 billion': Zelenskyy says Ukraine aims to buy 10 Patriot systems

He made this statement in an interview with CBS.

According to the president, Ukraine has provided the United States with a list of necessary defense equipment to protect against Russian attacks.

“We’ve transmitted it to President Trump over the phone and through various formats at different levels. We’re ready to buy this package. We discussed this package with European partners who are willing to jointly finance the relevant packages,” Zelenskyy said.

“I was very clear with President Trump about what we can do. There’s the Patriot system, you have many of them, and you have the production. There are a few steps to protect Ukraine. Step one – one system, which costs one and a half billion. We’re ready to buy it, and we need at least 10 systems to cover some cities. Only the civilians, city centers, maximally, where large concentrations of people are. And that’s $15 billion. We’re ready to pay these $15 billion, we’ll find the money, and we’ll pay for everything,” he added.

The president also mentioned that he asked both the current and former U.S. administrations for licenses to produce Patriot systems and the corresponding missiles for them.

Furthermore, Kyiv was ready to rent air defense systems from countries in the Middle East and Asia that are not engaged in combat, Zelenskyy clarified.

• On April 11, President Zelenskyy appealed to the participants of the Ramstein meeting from Kryvyi Rih and requested that Ukraine be provided with 10 Patriot air defense systems. “We really need this. Ten Patriot systems – they are available in the free world. Now political decisions are needed for these systems to work for peace. We need this result,” emphasized the head of state.