Zelensky says Kyiv has waited almost a month for US approval of Patriot and NASAMS missiles

Kyiv says the approval has been pending for almost a month

Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday, 26 October, that Ukraine has been waiting almost a month for US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to approve interceptor missiles for the Patriot and NASAMS air defense systems. He made the point in a post on X, following a meeting on the state of weapons deliveries from partners. Zelensky said he had instructed his team to raise the matter with Washington again and that Kyiv is pursuing other routes in parallel. Talks are under way with the United States, European countries and other partners that hold PAC-2 and PAC-3 missiles for Patriot systems.

“We have been waiting almost a month for Mr Hegseth to approve the missiles for Patriot and NASAMS.”

Paid for by allies, held up in Washington

The missiles in question were bought through PURL, the Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List, a mechanism under which NATO countries finance purchases of US weapons for Ukraine. Germany is one of the European NATO states paying for these US deliveries, and the United States no longer provides military aid to Ukraine under President Donald Trump. Transfers of US-made weapons from third countries still require approval from Washington. In an earlier Bloomberg interview, Zelensky said the US side had approved only some of the missiles, not the rest, and described the delay as a political matter rather than a technical one. He also said the US now supplies only 12 Patriot interceptors per month, about four times fewer than under the administration of Joe Biden.

“The American side has approved only some of them, and not the rest.”

What Washington has said

Earlier in October, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged that a batch of interceptor missiles may not have been delivered, but said the delay was not for political reasons. Reuters reported on 20 October that at least one batch remained pending Hegseth's approval. According to the Washington Post, US officials said the minister had not formally rejected the transfers but had not taken the steps needed to approve them. A Ukrainian official told the Kyiv Independent that the batch was significant, without giving the number of missiles. The United States has denied deliberately delaying weapons supplies to Ukraine.

Intelligence and Starlink disruptions

Ukraine has also reported gaps in the information it receives from US sources about Russian missile attacks. Starshield, the military version of the Starlink satellite service, reportedly had its power reduced for days, disrupting military operations and air defense. Reuters reported that the order to reduce that power came through the White House. SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk and US officials had publicly said that any decision to limit Starlink or Starshield could only be taken by the other side. Zelensky said Starlink service has been restored to normal levels. US officials attributed interruptions to early warning systems, which depend on US data, to 'unfavourable weather conditions', while Ukrainian officials said such interruptions have occurred several times before.

Pressure over Russian refineries and winter preparations

Zelensky has linked the delays and restrictions to an attempt by Trump to press Kyiv into accepting conditions demanded by the Kremlin to end the war, and Washington has rejected accusations that it uses military and technological support as leverage. Trump had announced a deal with Russia on diesel and criticized Zelensky for not halting strikes on Russian refineries. Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine's energy and political infrastructure while Kyiv prepares for winter. Zelensky also announced preparations for a Ramstein-format meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in November, where partners are expected to discuss further military aid.