UKRAINE, Oct 20: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday said Washington was deliberately delaying deliveries of interceptor missiles to Ukraine, deepening a public rift with US counterpart Donald Trump.
The remarks came as Kyiv questions US support in its war with Russia, accusing Washington of helping Moscow by failing to warn it of incoming missile strikes and hobbling Ukraine's military response through changes to the Starshield system it uses for communications.
The US denies making any changes to intelligence-sharing with Kyiv.
Speaking to US senators on Monday, Zelensky said "the Pentagon is delaying the delivery of missiles" already paid for by European countries under the Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) programme.
According to Zelensky, the shipment is awaiting the signature of US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.
He also said several European countries were ready to transfer Patriot interceptor missiles from their own stockpiles but were still awaiting US approval.
"The missiles are ready, and they could already be in Ukraine," Zelensky said, according to remarks released by the Ukrainian presidency.
"But unfortunately, there is still no approval."
The Ukrainian leader added: "All of this suggests that some political decision has been made to slow down the support for us."
Trump, facing key midterm elections next month in which soaring fuel prices are a major issue, has blamed Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries for the squeeze on supplies and increase in prices at the pump.
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