‘We want them too’: Trump rebuffs Zelensky’s request for missiles
President Donald Trump has dismissed Ukraine’s plea for more Patriot anti-air missiles following widespread reports that US interceptor stockpiles have been significantly depleted by the war with Iran.
Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has warned that his country is running out of Western-supplied interceptors to fend off Russian strikes. On Wednesday, Ukrainian forces failed to intercept a single missile during an overnight barrage on Kiev.
“The United States knows exactly what we need and that this is not about something abstract,” Zelensky said in a video address on Thursday.
Asked by a reporter in the Oval Office later that day about Ukraine’s request, Trump replied: “Well, I mean, we want missiles too.” He added that his predecessor, Joe Biden, provided Kiev with $300 billion worth of ammunition “free of charge,” at the expense of US stockpiles.
“When I left [the presidency in 2021], it was full. And he gave a lot of it away. And now we are rebuilding it,” Trump said. He added, however, that the stockpiles were “in good shape” and bragged about an “unlimited supply” of weapons.
“We are not involved [in the Ukraine conflict]. We are separated by an ocean,” Trump said in response to a question about Russian strikes on Ukraine.
Last week, Trump denied that he had agreed to grant Ukraine a license to produce Patriots, backtracking on a statement he made several weeks earlier following a meeting with Zelensky.
Multiple news outlets have reported in recent months that the Pentagon is grappling with shortages of both interceptors and precision-strike munitions. CNN cited sources this week as saying that the US has exhausted nearly 80% of the interceptors available for its THAAD missile defense system compared with pre-war levels.
Trump reportedly clashed over the issue with War Secretary Pete Hegseth, who, according to media reports, denied misleading the president about depleted stockpiles. Both Trump and Hegseth have publicly denied the shortages and scolded the media for spreading “fake news.”
Russia has intensified its bombardment of Kiev and Ukraine’s Black Sea ports in recent weeks following strikes on Russian cargo ships, energy facilities, and warehouses belonging to Wildberries, Russia’s equivalent of Amazon. Moscow has said its campaign is focused on military and dual-use sites, including factories and drone-parts storage facilities, as well as ships transporting military equipment.
