Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had asked U.S. President Donald Trump for missile interceptors to defend energy sites, as Washington weighs Ukraine’s request against the needs of its forces and other partners.
In an interview with Corriere della Sera published Oct. 20, Zelenskyy said he had told Trump that if allies expected Ukraine to stop retaliating and could not stop Russian President Vladimir Putin’s attacks, they should at least provide interceptors. Zelenskyy said the missiles he sought had not arrived.
Ukraine’s presidential office said Zelenskyy pressed a bipartisan U.S. congressional delegation on Oct. 19 to speed Patriot interceptor deliveries through the Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL). He proposed halting Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries for 30 days if the United States helped defend Ukrainian skies with Patriot interceptors for the same period.
That proposal differs from Zelenskyy’s separate offer on energy strikes. He said Ukraine would avoid striking sensitive parts of Russia’s energy sector if Moscow stopped attacking Ukraine’s, and said Putin rejected the offer.
Under PURL, allies and partners pay for U.S. military equipment supplied to Ukraine, including Patriot interceptors. NATO says the program draws on existing U.S. inventory and new purchases.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio denied on Oct. 20 that Washington had issued a political order to withhold interceptors. “There’s nothing being deliberately denied to Ukraine,” he told reporters in Mumbai. Asked about a reported batch awaiting review, Rubio said that could be the case, without confirming its status or a delivery date.
Rubio said U.S. forces and other partners also need interceptors, which are costly and take time to produce.
Ukraine’s presidential office said Zelenskyy and Rubio spoke Oct. 20 about interceptors, advance warnings of Russian ballistic missile attacks, and issues involving Starlink and Starshield. Zelenskyy later said the warnings were now working. His office said the two agreed to speak again soon.
