Patriot missiles for Ukraine await US approval, newspapers report

The Washington Post reported on 19 October that US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth had not completed the approval steps for transfers of Patriot interceptor missiles to Ukraine. At least some of the missiles would come from countries friendly to Kyiv, which need US permission to pass on the American-made weapons. The missiles are important to Ukraine’s defence against Russian ballistic attacks. [1]

The Post cited a US official and three other people familiar with the matter, all speaking anonymously. They said Hegseth had not formally rejected the transfers and had continued to approve some other US assistance to Ukraine. The report did not identify the countries involved or say how many missiles were awaiting approval. [1]

In separate reporting, the Kyiv Independent spoke to a senior Ukrainian official and two Ukrainian military officials who also said Hegseth had yet to approve Patriot supplies. One official said Ukraine’s allies had already paid for the missiles; another described the batch as “significant”, without giving a number. It is unclear whether they were referring to the same transfers described by the Post. [2]

Ukrainian officials suspect the delay is political, but a US government official told the Kyiv Independent that the Ukrainian claims were “not true”, without specifying which claims were disputed. A NATO official said deliveries through the wider allied-funded PURL programme were continuing, including air-defence equipment. Another said some shipments could be delayed but that political reasons were unlikely to explain such delays. Those broader deliveries do not settle whether the particular transfers reported by the newspapers have been approved. [2]

The immediate question is whether and when the reported transfers receive approval. Neither newspaper identified the individual applications or established what effect the reported hold-up has had on deliveries to Ukraine.