Ukraine fears that US is holding back Patriot missiles paid for by its allies as means of exerting political pressure, - media
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has not yet approved the transfer to Ukraine of a significant consignment of interceptor missiles for the Patriot systems. Officials in Kyiv suspect that Washington is deliberately holding back deliveries to exert "political pressure", whilst the US government describes such claims as "untrue".
Ukrainian officials and military personnel told the Kyiv Independent about this, according to Censor.NET.
Details
According to the publication, one senior official and two military personnel, speaking on condition of anonymity, claim that Hegset is delaying deliveries of missiles for the Patriot system, on which Ukraine relies to intercept ballistic missiles.
"The contracts for the Patriot missiles are sitting on his desk. He isn’t signing them", said one of the sources. According to him, these missiles have already been paid for by Ukraine’s allies.
The Kyiv Independent quotes another source as saying: "It looks like a political refusal to sign. First there were warnings about missiles. Now this. It’s clear what they’re doing".
One senior official described the party, which he said is awaiting Hegseth’s approval, as "substantial": "It’s hard to call it a ‘monthly supply’, as there’s no set amount required each month. But it’s substantial".
As of the morning of 19 October, according to a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence, nothing has changed: Hegset has still not approved the transfer.
What is known about the deliveries
A senior military official has stated that Ukraine is receiving missiles for the Patriot system through several channels. One of the main ones is NATO’s PURL mechanism, through which allies fund arms purchases from the US.
- According to Bloomberg, Zelenskyy has stated that the US is supplying Ukraine with only 12 Patriot missiles per month. Kyiv is also approaching countries that may have them in stock directly to request missiles. Ukrainian officials are not disclosing how many interceptors are currently available, for security reasons.
The reaction of the US and NATO
A NATO spokesperson stated that deliveries via the PURL are continuing, including air defence equipment. Another Alliance spokesperson suggested that some shipments may be delayed, but that political reasons are unlikely.
The Kyiv Independent contacted the Pentagon for comment but received no reply. A US government official denied Ukraine’s claims, calling them "untrue".
Context
- On 19 October, Zelenskyy stated that there were delays in "certain types of essential supplies" at the level of the US Department of Defence, and that "political agreements had not been implemented at the working level".
- The publication links this to recent disruptions in the early-warning systems for Russian ballistic missiles, which rely on US intelligence. US officials attributed the disruptions to "bad weather conditions", whilst Secretary of State Marco Rubio cited a software error as the cause. There were also malfunctions in the Starshield and Starlink systems, which affected Ukrainian drones, in particular the interceptor drones designed to counter jet-powered ‘shahids’.
