Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that his country is ready to purchase 10 Patriot air defense systems from the United States for a total of $15 billion.
In an interview with CBS, quoted by "Yervopeyskaya Pravda", Zelensky stressed that the issue is not in the means, but in the willingness of partners to help.
Zelensky noted that Ukraine has not received the additional Patriot systems that were promised at the NATO summit in Washington.
"I respect the choice of the United States, but when the United States did not give us such systems or did not sell them, we are ready for any format, the question is not in the money," he said he.
Zelensky criticized the US decision not to provide or sell additional equipment to Ukraine, while similar systems are being delivered to other countries.
"But the US says that today there is no possibility. But at the same time they sell such systems, for example, to Israel. I'm not saying that Israel doesn't need them, but if we are partners, can't they find a way to protect Ukraine?" the president said.
He reported that he had presented various options to US President Donald Trump, including a direct purchase, lease or obtaining a license to manufacture the systems and the corresponding missiles in Ukraine. Zelensky said that he had made these proposals to both the current and previous US administrations.
The president also stressed that some European partners have expressed their readiness to financially assist in the purchase of the systems, and there are other options - such as transferring Patriot from countries in the Middle East, Europe and Asia, where there is no active hostilities.
"We were even ready to lease them. There are many formats to ensure this. We need a desire," Zelensky added.
"There is a Patriot system and you have a lot of them and you have production. There are several steps to protect Ukraine. Step number one: one system that costs a billion and a half dollars; we are ready to purchase at least ten systems to cover some cities, only civilians, and urban centers where people are crowded. This is 15 billion US dollars. We are ready to pay these 15 billion US dollars. "We will find this money and we will pay for everything," the president said.