Ukraine: Patriot Missile Orders Unsigned for 30 Days
Zelensky states that Defense Secretary Hegseth has not approved interceptor shipments, adding to friction over logistics and intelligence sharing.
By Mei Chen ·
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Monday that the United States has not yet authorized a shipment of critical air defense missiles. He stated that the country has waited nearly a month for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to sign off on the supplies.
Zelensky posted on the social media platform X that the pending approval covers both Patriot and NASAMS systems. He instructed his team to raise the issue again with American counterparts. The delay occurs as Russian forces increase strikes on Ukrainian energy and civilian infrastructure.
The United States supplies these missiles through a program called PURL, which allows NATO allies to purchase weapons for Ukraine. Zelensky has previously urged Washington to accelerate deliveries before winter conditions set in.
Last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged that a batch of interceptors might not have arrived on schedule. He maintained that the holdup was not driven by political motives.
The stalled shipment follows a diesel fuel deal between Moscow and Washington. Trump also criticized Zelensky for not halting Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries. These developments have heightened tensions between the two governments.
Ukrainian officials recently reported gaps in US intelligence regarding Russian missile launches. They also noted that Starshield, the military version of Starlink, was throttled for several days. Reuters reported that the order to limit bandwidth originated inside the White House. Elon Musk and US officials have publicly disagreed on who made that decision.
Source: The Jerusalem Post
