On Monday, 19 October, Zelensky told senators from both parties in an online meeting that Washington is delaying Patriot interceptor deliveries. He urged them to press the Trump administration, which he said restricts intelligence sharing and weapons supplies to Ukraine and should lift those limits.
According to The Washington Post, which reported the news citing several sources, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has not formally rejected the transfers but has also not completed the approval steps they require. Part of the Patriot stock is earmarked for countries with good relations with Ukraine, and those transfers also need Hegseth's approval. Because the missiles are made and supplied in the US, buyers cannot resell or pass them on to another country without prior US government permission. A Ukrainian official told the paper that only 'a few' interceptor missiles remain in Ukraine's stockpile.
The delay comes as Trump has criticised Kyiv, suggested that Zelensky should be replaced and that new elections should be held in Ukraine, and wants Ukraine to stop attacking Russian oil refineries.
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Zelensky told a group of Republican and Democratic senators on Monday, 19 October, that the US government is slowing deliveries of Patriot air defence missiles to Ukraine. Ukraine relies on the interceptors to defend against Russian air attacks.
AI text based on reports by de Volkskrant. Published .