The US is pausing the delivery of Patriot interceptor missiles to other nations so it can fast-track orders for Ukraine to bolster its air defenses against Russian attacks.
The decision to bring Kyiv to the front of the production queue, which officials expect to be announced on Thursday, follows President Joe Biden saying last week that he had secured commitments for the delivery of additional air defense systems to Ukraine.
Biden said several nations had agreed to send Patriot and other air defense systems to Kyiv, and that other countries expecting deliveries would have to wait because “everything we have is going to go to Ukraine until their needs are met”.
Standing beside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after the two signed a 10-year defence pact on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Puglia, Biden added that Kyiv would begin receiving more systems “relatively quickly”.
A senior White House official said the US would be “re-sequencing deliveries” of air defence systems including Patriots “so interceptors rolling off the production line now are provided to Ukraine”.
“This decision demonstrates our commitment to supporting our partners when they’re in existential danger. And our second message really is to Russia, which is that if they think they can outlast Ukraine in this war, they are mistaken,” the official said.
