The warnings come as the White House blocks allied countries from transferring US-made Patriot interceptors from their own stockpiles to Ukraine, a move that requires sign-off from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, according to the Telegraph and the Washington Post. Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged that a batch of European-funded interceptors purchased under the PURL program may still be awaiting Hegseth's approval, saying Washington constantly reviews whether the weapons are needed elsewhere. Rubio denied any political order to withhold military support or early-warning intelligence from Kyiv.
In a Monday call with a bipartisan group of US lawmakers organized by Senators Richard Blumenthal and Thom Tillis, Zelenskyy confirmed that the Pentagon is holding up paid-for Patriot deliveries while Kyiv has only "a couple" of interceptors left in its stockpile. He also told lawmakers that Ukraine received no US early warning before a recent wave of Russian ballistic missile strikes and continues to face Starlink and Starshield connectivity cutoffs on military systems traveling above 130 to 161 kilometers per hour (100 miles per hour). The dispute escalated after Trump waived sanctions under the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act and struck a deal to allow Russian diesel exports while demanding Kyiv halt strikes on Russian oil refineries.