Secretary of State Marco Rubio denied Tuesday that the United States was deliberately withholding air defense missiles or intelligence from Ukraine, though he acknowledged that a shipment of Patriot interceptors purchased by European allies may be awaiting Pentagon approval.
Speaking to reporters in India after a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Rubio said the U.S. faces competing demands for the sophisticated missiles, which are also needed to protect American military installations and allies around the world.
“There’s nothing being deliberately denied to Ukraine,” Rubio said. “It’s simply a balance between our obligations to other partners and, frankly, our own standards and requirements for our own facilities as well.”
Rubio was responding to complaints from Zelenskyy and U.S. lawmakers that delays in missile deliveries and disruptions in American intelligence sharing have left Ukrainian civilians vulnerable to Russian ballistic missile attacks.
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Asked specifically about a batch of interceptors purchased by European countries under the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List, or PURL, that reportedly requires Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s sign-off, Rubio did not rule out that the shipment was being held up.
“These things are always reviewed through the context of whether they’re needed somewhere else or whether they even need to remain in Europe,” Rubio said. “We do have bases in Europe. Our partners do as well.”
The Washington Post reported Monday that the Trump administration had not approved interceptors from countries seeking to provide them to Ukraine. Those transfers require approval because the interceptors are American made. Reuters reported separately that Hegseth had not authorized delivery of the latest weapons package purchased by NATO allies through PURL.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Patriot interceptors, already in demand in Europe in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, have become highly sought around the globe — including by the United States as it grapples with stockpiles diminished in the Iran war. The Trump administration has been pushing to ramp up production of the complex weapons, but it may take years for those efforts to turn into new deliveries.
Rubio said the U.S. is juggling commitments to Ukraine, Israel and Saudi Arabia with its own requirements to protect U.S. installations.
“Every country in the world would like interceptors, and many parts of the world are asking for that,” he said. “So, when a country doesn’t get interceptors from the United States, it’s not because they’re being denied. We have our own needs too.”
Relations between President Donald Trump and Zelenskyy are under intense strain after Trump’s recent rejection of new Russia sanctions and after Kyiv experienced disruptions in U.S. satellite support for its drones during the war.
Rubio said Trump has been “angry and frustrated” by a lack of progress toward a negotiated settlement and by suggestions that he is deliberately undermining Ukraine’s defenses. He also acknowledged Trump’s objections to Ukraine’s strikes on Russian energy infrastructure due to their impact on global markets.
“The president, more than anything, is responding to the insinuation that somehow he is doing things to deliberately harm Ukraine, which is not fair and not true,” Rubio said.
Rubio forcefully denied the administration had curbed the intelligence sharing with Ukraine that warns it of incoming missile attacks.
“The president made it very clear he’s ordered no such changes,” Rubio said. “None of that has changed.”
Rubio acknowledged Ukraine may have experienced problems receiving or acting on intelligence on Oct. 13 and 18, but said it was either an “internal issue” or a “technical” matter.
“I saw somebody associated with the Ukrainian government say that people in Ukraine are dying because the U.S. is denying information,” he said. “That’s scandalous. That’s outrageous. That’s just simply not true.”
Zelenskyy has talked with American lawmakers about worsening problems with Ukraine’s air defenses as well as the interceptor delivery delays.
“We should be doing everything we can to help Ukraine defend its cities,” said Rep. Don Bacon (R-Nebraska), who told The Washington Sun that Zelenskyy discussed the delays in a call with him on Monday. “I’d pull from our own inventory, and I’d coordinate with other countries to do the same. Trump is trying to impede other countries from helping. It’s an immoral policy.”
Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) and Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) said Zelenskyy reported disruptions in early-warning intelligence as well as ongoing restrictions on Starlink and Starshield satellite communications.
“As a result of these disruptions, civilians — children — are dying,” the senators wrote in a joint statement.
Ukraine has been pressing Washington for months to speed up Patriot interceptor deliveries, particularly as Russia targets its energy facilities and ahead of the winter.
In August, former Vice President Mike Pence said on CNN that Zelenskyy had asked whether the United States could spare roughly 5% of its remaining Patriot interceptors to help Ukraine defend itself through the winter.
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