Pentagon chief prioritizes US interceptor stocks amid reports of delayed missile deliveries to Ukraine
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Washington has not changed its policy toward Ukraine but wants to ensure American forces retain as many interceptor missiles as possible, amid reports that the Pentagon is delaying deliveries of air defense missiles already paid for by NATO allies.
"We haven't changed our posture in any way toward Ukrainians," Hegseth told reporters.
"But certainly with things like interceptors, we wanna make sure our guys have the most possible as well," he added.
Hegseth said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was aware of Washington's position and that the two sides had held "very honest conversations" about the issue.
The remarks followed reports by the Kyiv Independent and Washington Post that Hegseth had not approved shipments of Patriot interceptor missiles to Ukraine despite allied funding.
According to Axios, Zelenskyy also raised the issue during a virtual meeting with US senators, saying deliveries of Patriot interceptors and AIM-9X missiles for NASAMS air defense systems remained unsigned despite having been paid for by NATO countries.
Zelenskyy previously told Bloomberg that Ukraine was receiving only 12 Patriot interceptor missiles per month, roughly a quarter of the volume supplied under former President Joe Biden.
Hegseth did not directly address whether the reported shipments had been approved or when the missiles would be delivered.
He reiterated that President Donald Trump wanted the war to end and believed both sides should reach an agreement.
"Ultimately the president does wanna see peace. He believes that the killings should stop," Hegseth said.
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