NATO says Patriot missile deliveries were not held up, responding to Zelenskyy
A shortage of Patriot interceptor missiles in the Ukrainian Armed Forces in January, which enabled Russian forces to damage energy infrastructure, was not linked to delays in payments from European donors or other financial problems, a NATO official has said.
A NATO official, who briefed reporters ahead of a meeting of Allied defence ministers, spoke on condition of anonymity in accordance with NATO rules and denied that there had been any delivery delays due to funding issues.
The person, involved in the activities related to the Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) mechanism for procurement of US weapons for Ukraine, also rejected claims of a "delay" in the delivery of air defence systems.
"From our perspective and from the US perspective, there were no delays in deliveries. The equipment provided since July under the PURL programme moves as quickly as US logistical chains allow. There were no additional pauses in these deliveries," the official said.
The representative also insisted that the structure of US air defence supplies meant that the supposed "payment delay" mentioned in Kyiv could not have affected deliveries.
"Yes, we are constantly seeking funding from Allies and partners for future packages, but there is no direct link between funding and delivery. The US does not delay deliveries for financial reasons," the person stressed.
However, the official acknowledged that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's concerns are understandable, as Ukraine does face a shortage of interceptor missiles.
"The president is quite right that Ukraine is absolutely short of critical munitions such as PAC-3 and PAC-2, and even PURL frankly doesn't provide everything that is needed when Russia overwhelms air defences with missiles. There's always a shortage," the person said.
NATO also emphasised that Zelenskyy is correct about the unpredictability of delivery dates due to logistical factors.
"Logistics experts say that it is impossible to predict on which exact day or week a particular missile will cross the border. But that depends on the logistics chain, not on financing," he explained.
"The missiles are flowing as fast as the US can get them there. But understandably, Zelenskyy is frustrated because he needs a lot more," the official concluded.
Earlier, Zelenskyy criticised Europe in Davos, later explaining that this was linked to financing issues. "The PURL tranche was not paid. The missiles did not arrive," he said at the time.
Subsequently, NATO said that several of Kyiv's partners would provide Ukraine with air defence missiles from their own stockpiles to help address the shortfall in US deliveries.
Recently, Ukraine's ambassador to NATO named six countries that have contributed the most to the purchase of US weapons for Kyiv.