Deliveries to Ukraine of 500 new PAC-3 MSE interceptor missiles for Patriot air defense missile systems—a $2.1 billion sale approved by the U.S. State Department—may not begin until after 2030. Thus, the approved procurement will not resolve Ukraine’s shortage of anti-missile capabilities in the next few years, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Washington correspondent Alex Raufoglu reported on October 30, 2026, citing informed sources.
According to him, the agreement approved by Washington provides for the production of new missiles, rather than the transfer of ready-made interceptors from existing U.S. arsenals. It is precisely the need to manufacture the weapons that accounts for such lengthy delivery times.
The official statement from the U.S. State Department does not include a specific timeline for the transfer of the missiles. Therefore, the timeline after 2030 is currently based on information from journalistic sources rather than an officially confirmed delivery date.
The U.S. State Department announced the decision regarding the potential sale of 500 Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (PAC-3 MSE) missiles and related equipment on October 30.
The estimated cost of the package is $2.1 billion. Funding will be provided by Ukraine’s international partners—including Canada, Germany, and Norway—as part of the JUMPSTART program, as well as by Ukraine itself, with financial support from the European Union. No U.S. budget funds are expected to be used for this procurement.
The U.S. defense contractor Lockheed Martin has been designated as the prime contractor. However, the State Department’s approval is a step in the process of a potential sale, not a confirmation that the procurement has been finalized or that deliveries will begin. The agreement is also subject to congressional review as required by U.S. law.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the approval to purchase 500 interceptors but emphasized that deliveries may not begin for several years, whereas Ukraine’s air defense system needs the missiles as early as the winter of 2026–2027.
According to him, Ukraine had asked the U.S. to ensure a monthly supply of 100 PAC-3 interceptors.
Zelenskyy had previously reported that in 2026, Ukraine was receiving an average of about 12 Patriot interceptor missiles per month, which is significantly less than current air defense needs.
Thus, despite the approval of a major agreement, the issue of supplying Ukraine’s air defense with additional missiles in the short term remains unresolved. The possibility of accelerating deliveries will depend on specific decisions by Washington and its allies regarding the transfer of weapons from existing stockpiles.
The PAC-3 MSE is one of the most advanced variants of the interceptor missiles used in the U.S. Patriot system. It is designed primarily to engage ballistic missiles and other aerial targets. Limited production capacity and high international demand for such missiles are lengthening the lead times for new orders.
According to Serbian Economist, the American conservative organization CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference), which has close ties to the U.S. Republican Party and President Donald Trump’s political circle, will hold the first CPAC Balkans conference in Belgrade from November 18 to 21, 2026. Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić will be the keynote speaker at the event.
This will be the first time the conference is held in Southeast Europe, and it will bring together conservative politicians, representatives of civil society organizations, experts, and supporters of right-wing political movements from the Balkan states. The organizers intend to discuss issues of national sovereignty, economic policy, free enterprise, traditional values, and international cooperation.
One of the central themes will be energy security in the Balkan region. According to CPAC, increased supplies of American energy resources could help diversify energy imports and reduce the Balkan states’ dependence on individual suppliers.
The organizers view the United States as a potential partner for countries in the region in ensuring energy independence. Discussion of this issue is of particular importance for Serbia, which continues to diversify its natural gas supply sources and develop energy cooperation with foreign partners.
CPAC Chairman Matt Schlapp stated that the organization welcomes the holding of the first Balkan conference in Serbia. He highlighted the role of Aleksandar Vučić in developing strategic cooperation between Belgrade and Washington and expressed satisfaction with his upcoming speech.
According to Schlapp, conservative political movements have achieved significant success in North and South America, as well as in Japan. The organizers expect that hosting CPAC Balkans will help expand the international networks of European conservative organizations.
CPAC has already held international conferences in Hungary, Japan, Brazil, Mexico, Australia, Israel, Argentina, Paraguay, Poland, the United Kingdom, and Italy. The Belgrade meeting will mark the next step in expanding the organization’s international network.
The choice of Serbia as the conference venue reflects the desire of American conservative circles to expand their political presence in the Balkans and strengthen ties with the leadership of countries in the region.
The names of the remaining participants and the detailed conference program have not yet been published. The organizers promise to release them in the coming weeks.
CPAC is not a U.S. government agency or an official body of the Republican Party, although its events are traditionally attended by leading figures from the American political right, including Donald Trump.
The U.S. will continue to take steps to ease sanctions against Russia, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“Unfortunately, the lifting of sanctions will continue. I believe that the diesel deal is the first step. Unfortunately, it seems to me that this will not stop Putin; on the contrary, he feels joy and happiness from having such support. And yet we very much hope—I personally hope—that the President of the United States will do everything possible to ensure that Putin stops the killings, stops the attacks on our energy sector, and ends this war,” Zelenskyy said, responding to questions from journalists on Saturday.
He emphasized that “this cannot be achieved by limiting Ukraine’s countermeasures against Russia, which is killing our people, and certainly not by lifting sanctions.”
The president noted that the Ukrainian side had not received any warnings that the sanctions would be suspended or about the “diesel deal,” and “in the same way, we learned from the media about the possibility of an energy truce.”
U.S. President Donald Trump again stated that Canada could eventually become the 51st U.S. state, linking this to trade relations between the two countries.
He made this statement on October 14 during a campaign rally in Bullhead City, Arizona.
“Eventually, they’ll become the 51st state, because that’s the only way it works. We don’t need them, but they need us. And why should we lose $80 billion, $90 billion, $100 billion a year to support a country that isn’t part of us?” Trump said.
Prior to this, the U.S. president accused Canada of pursuing a harsh tariff policy and stated that Canadian automakers are moving production to the U.S. to avoid American tariffs. After mentioning the possibility of making Canada the 51st state, Trump also drew a parallel with Greenland.
However, the $80–100 billion figure he cited does not correspond to official data on the trade balance between the two countries. According to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, in 2025, the U.S. trade deficit in goods with Canada stood at $48.3 billion. At the same time, the U.S. had a trade surplus in services with Canada of $27.7 billion. Total trade in goods and services between the two countries was estimated at $872.3 billion.
Trump repeatedly returned to the idea of making Canada a U.S. state after his return to the White House. In May 2025, during a meeting in Washington, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney stated outright that the country was “not for sale” and would never be sold. In response, Trump said at the time, “Never say never.”
The U.S. remains Canada’s main trading partner. According to the USTR, more than three-quarters of Canadian merchandise exports go to the U.S. market, while nearly half of Canada’s imports come from the U.S. The economies of the two countries are particularly closely linked in the automotive industry, the energy sector, and cross-border supply chains.
According to Interfax-Ukraine, U.S. President Donald Trump accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of being unwilling to end the war with Russia.
“Zelenskyy could have resolved this war many, many times. He chose not to. … Zelenskyy wants to create problems for the world. He wants to create problems for our farmers by striking Russian oil refineries,” Trump told reporters.
“I suggest that Ukraine get a new leader who is capable of making deals. For some reason, Zelenskyy never makes deals,” Trump said.
“We told Zelenskyy, ‘Do whatever you want, but don’t target diesel fuel.’ And what does he do? He goes and targets diesel fuel. He can do whatever he wants, but he can’t do that,” the U.S. president added.
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has proposed imposing a fee of $70,000 for an international student’s initial participation in the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program and an additional $30,000 for subsequent extensions, including those for STEM graduates.
The corresponding draft rule from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was published on October 8, 2026, in the Federal Register. This decision has not yet taken effect: the document is currently open for public comment, with comments accepted until November 9.
The OPT program allows international students with an F-1 visa to temporarily work in the U.S. in their field of study during or after their studies. Typically, graduates can work under OPT for up to 12 months, and an additional extension is available for STEM fields.
Under the new scheme proposed by DHS, a certified college or university would be required to pay the fee before the institution submits an OPT recommendation to the SEVIS system. Without confirmation of payment of the new fee, a student will not be able to obtain a work authorization.
If the rule is approved as currently proposed, the cost of accessing OPT will increase tenfold. Currently, obtaining a work permit costs approximately a few hundred dollars, whereas the proposed model calls for $70,000 for the initial recommendation and an additional $30,000 for each subsequent one.
DHS justifies the reform by citing the need to combat fraud and abuse in the OPT program, as well as to protect the U.S. labor market. In the draft rule, the agency refers to cases of fictitious employment of international graduates and potential violations in the program identified by ICE.
Reuters notes that OPT is one of the key pathways through which international graduates of U.S. universities gain their first work experience in the U.S. and then often transition to H-1B work visas. Therefore, the introduction of such a high fee could significantly reduce the number of graduates who remain to work in the country after completing their studies.
At the same time, the group potentially affected is very large. According to Open Doors 2025, there were 1.178 million international students at U.S. colleges and universities during the 2024–25 academic year, accounting for about 6% of all U.S. higher education students. Of these, 294,300 participated in OPT, with the number of program participants rising by 21% over the course of the year.
The largest numbers of international students come to the U.S. from India (363,000), China (266,000), South Korea (42,300), Canada (29,900), and Vietnam (25,600).
There are significantly fewer Ukrainian students at U.S. universities, but their numbers are growing. According to Open Doors 2025, 2,346 students from Ukraine were studying or participating in OPT in the U.S. during the 2024–25 academic year, which is 7.5% more than the previous year.
By comparison, there were 2,183 Ukrainian students in the U.S. during the 2023–24 academic year. At that time, about 55% of them were enrolled in bachelor’s programs, 26% in master’s and doctoral programs, 14% were participating in OPT, and another 5% were in non-degree programs.
Thus, if the composition of the Ukrainian student population remains roughly the same, the new fees could affect several hundred Ukrainians who plan to stay in the U.S. for professional practice after graduating from American universities. However, Open Doors does not provide the exact number of Ukrainians specifically on OPT in the 2024–25 academic year in its publicly available summary statistics.
Overall, the Ukrainian community in the U.S. is significantly larger than the student population. According to an estimate by the Migration Policy Institute based on the American Community Survey, more than 510,000 immigrants born in Ukraine were living in the U.S. in 2024, and the entire Ukrainian diaspora, including people of Ukrainian descent, was estimated at approximately 1.4 million people.
Critics of the proposal warn that the new fee could make U.S. universities less attractive to international applicants and redirect some students to the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and EU countries. The Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration has already stated that such a high financial barrier could seriously disrupt the existing system for attracting foreign graduates to the U.S. labor market.
However, the initiative’s final fate remains uncertain. After the public comment period ends, DHS may amend the proposal, drop some provisions, or adopt the final rule. Additionally, Reuters notes that the new restrictions are likely to face legal challenges.
