US approves $2.1 billion Patriot missile sale to Ukraine

Oct 30 (Reuters) The US State Department said on Friday it had approved the ​sale of 500 Patriot ‌PAC-3 missiles to Ukraine for an estimated $2.1 billion. Ukraine will pay for the missiles with contributions from ‌Canada, ​Germany and Norway ⁠routed through the ⁠US JUMPSTART program, along with national funds financed by the European Union s Ukraine Support Loan, ​the State Department said in a statement. Lockheed Martin ⁠is the principal ⁠contractor for the sale. President ​Volodymyr Zelenskiy said earlier this week ​that Ukraine had been waiting ‌for almost a month for the US to sign off on critical missile supplies, ⁠as Russia stepped up attacks on energy and civilian infrastructure. The Ukrainian leader ⁠has ‌repeatedly called on the ⁠US, which supplies missiles ​purchased ‌by NATO allies under ​a ⁠program known as PURL, to speed up deliveries ahead of winter. (Reporting by Ryan Patrick Jones and Christian Martinez, editing by ​Michelle Nichols)