Zelensky says US is holding back Patriots allies already paid for
Kyiv says the Pentagon cleared only part of the NATO-funded batch; a US official denies it as Russia strikes the capital.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a Bloomberg interview on Sunday, Oct. 18, that the United States is delaying Patriot interceptors that Kyiv's allies have already paid for, according to Bloomberg, via Military.com. NATO countries fund those purchases through PURL, the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List, to buy American weapons.
Zelensky said Washington approved only some of the missiles and that the rest remain unauthorized. He ruled out a technical problem: "this is not a technical issue." By his account, about 12 interceptors a month are arriving now, roughly a quarter of the pace under the Biden administration. Washington has not confirmed that figure. Under Biden the weapons were free aid; now Ukraine buys them.
A day later, according to The Kyiv Independent, Ukrainian officials said they suspect Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is leaving a large transfer unsigned as a way to pressure Kyiv. A U.S. government official, who was not named, replied that this is false. The Pentagon did not respond to the outlet.
The Patriot is one of the few systems able to intercept ballistic missiles. The Washington Post and CNN, cited by the Kyiv Independent, warned in mid-October that Ukraine's stocks of the system were critically low again.
Between Oct. 18 and 19, Russia fired ballistic missiles toward Kyiv. According to the Kyiv Independent, at least one person was killed and eight were injured.
Zelensky also said he offered to suspend attacks on Russian diesel infrastructure in exchange for more missiles. In his account, Washington asked for the first without giving the second. On Oct. 9, Donald Trump had announced a deal with Vladimir Putin that lets Russia sell millions of tons of diesel on the world market, according to the same outlet. The Pentagon has not said whether it will sign off on the pending batch.
