Zelensky accuses Pentagon of delaying missiles Europe already paid for
Patriot interceptors await Hegseth signature while Kyiv got no warning before Sunday's power plant barrage, Trump says maybe time for Zelensky to get somebody else to negotiate
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A Ukrainian rescuer inspects the site of a deadly air attack in a park in Nova Vodolaha, in the north-eastern Kharkiv region, on Monday. Photograph: Ukrainian Emergency Service/AFP/Getty Images
theguardian.com
Volodymyr Zelensky told US senators on Monday that the Pentagon is deliberately delaying interceptor missiles that European countries have already paid for, with the shipment awaiting the signature of US defence secretary Pete Hegseth. The accusation came on day 1,700 of the war, hours after Russian ballistic missiles struck power plants in Kyiv without any advance warning from Washington.
The missiles were bought under the prioritised Ukraine requirements list, the program through which European governments pay for interceptors routed via American stocks. Several European countries, Zelensky said, are ready to transfer Patriot interceptors from their own stockpiles but are still awaiting US approval. "All of this suggests that some political decision has been made to slow down the support for us," he said in remarks released by the Ukrainian presidency.
A White House official, speaking to the Washington Post on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomacy, said the US "continues to play a constructive role in speaking to both sides in working towards bringing the war to an end". Donald Trump has blamed Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries for soaring fuel prices, a major issue in the coming midterm elections, and on Monday offered his own reading of the standoff: "Maybe it's time for Zelenskyy to get somebody else to negotiate."
Ukraine says it received no warning before the barrage that hit the capital's power plants at about 11pm on Sunday, though air force spokesperson Yuri Ihnat said a warning did precede a subsequent strike. Washington denies making any changes to intelligence-sharing. In Nova Vodolaha, in the north-eastern Kharkiv region, six people including a one-year-old girl and her mother were killed when a drone struck a park near a cafe.
Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff travels to Norway this week for the next round of negotiations, expected in Oslo, with Zelensky expected to attend and Jared Kushner joining virtually after falling ill.
The interceptors are paid for. The signature has not come.