The Pentagon is delaying the delivery of Patriot interceptor missiles to Ukraine, The Washington Post and The Kyiv Independent report.
According to The Washington Post’s four sources familiar with the matter, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has not yet approved the transfer of these missiles to Kyiv, including from other countries supporting Ukraine.
Ukraine has repeatedly complained about the shortage of Patriot missiles, as they are the only systems capable of effectively shooting down Russian ballistic missiles.
An anonymous Ukrainian official told The Washington Post that Kyiv has only a few Patriot interceptor missiles left.
The newspaper’s sources say that Hegseth has not banned the deliveries, but has not yet taken the necessary official steps to approve them. Also, the US defense secretary continues to approve some American military aid to Ukraine.
At the same time, The Kyiv Independent quotes Ukrainian officials, some of whom suspect that Washington is deliberately withholding the delivery of these Patriot interceptor missiles to pressure Ukraine.
“Hegseth has the contracts for Patriot missiles on his desk. He is not signing off on them,” one of the sources said.
The official added that the missiles had already been paid for by Ukraine's allies.
It seems that this is a lack of political will to sign, one of the Ukrainian officials told The Kyiv Independent.