Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday rejected accusations that the US has been slow to deliver weapons bought by Ukraine, which remains locked in brutal war with Russia.
The Washington Post first reported a day earlier that the Pentagon has been slowing delivery of Patriot interceptor missiles amid deteriorating relations between Washington and Kyiv.
"I know one of the things that [Ukrainian] President [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy has been talking about is that he’s been trying to buy interceptors, and I understand. So does every other country in the world," Mr Rubio told media in India. "We have our own needs, too."
But he stressed that everything "remains the same" on US commitments to Kyiv, including sharing intelligence, and said he had spoken with Mr Zelenskyy to clarify Washington's position.
"We have a global defence footprint, and many of our installations around the world require defence," Mr Rubio said. "So there’s nothing being deliberately denied to Ukraine."
In a statement, the Pentagon also said the policy towards Ukraine was unchanged.
The comments come amid increased concern in Ukraine over the delivery of the defence equipment, acquired through Purl, the Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List – a Nato programme that allies use to finance the purchase of US weaponry for Kyiv.
“The missiles are ready and they could already be in Ukraine,” Mr Zelenskyy said on a call with a bipartisan group of senators on Monday. “But unfortunately, there is still no approval.”
Ukraine has almost no US-supplied Patriot interceptors left, Mr Zelenskyy said. He said the US is supplying only 12 Patriot interceptor missiles a month – a quarter of the number provided under former president Joe Biden.
The Kyiv Independent quoted a Ukrainian official as saying Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth "has the contracts for Patriot missiles on his desk. He is not signing off on them".
Relations are fraying between Ukraine and the US. President Donald Trump has called on Mr Zelenksyy to end strikes on Russian oil sites amid a global energy crunch caused in part by the war in Iran.
Last week, Mr Trump claimed Russia and Ukraine had agreed to an "energy ceasefire", a day after Washington temporarily lifted sanctions on Russian fuel that were intended to limit Moscow’s revenue for its war against Kyiv. Mr Trump said the move was made to try to keep Russia at the negotiating table.
Mr Zelenskyy told NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday that waiving sanctions against Russia would strengthen its war effort. Mr Trump accused Mr Zelenskyy in a Truth Social post of wanting the war to continue.
