The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that he received an official refusal from the country's partners to supply air defense missiles. At a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council, Zelensky added that the official version of the refusal was the hostilities in the Middle East. However, he suggested that there may be political motives behind this decision.
“I don't know if there are other reasons besides the Middle East. These may be political moves to make Ukraine, so to speak, more lenient. That's what I think. We understand that this is a serious challenge“, Zelensky said. The President stressed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense are obliged to "grit their teeth and do everything" to attract more supplies of interceptor missiles from Ukraine's partners.
It is officially known that Donald Trump has rejected Zelensky's request to provide 300 missiles for the Patriot systems. As it became clear, the US has almost exhausted its stocks of these munitions during the hostilities in the Persian Gulf to protect American bases there. There is still no final decision on granting a license for the production of missiles by Ukraine itself.