Rubio denies deliberate US move to withhold Ukraine interceptors
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has denied that Washington is deliberately withholding interceptor missiles from Ukraine, saying there was "nothing being deliberately denied" to Kyiv.
MUMBAI — US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has publicly denied that Washington is deliberately withholding interceptor missiles from Ukraine, as Kyiv’s frustration over delayed deliveries grows.
Rubio acknowledged on Tuesday that a batch of interceptors purchased by NATO allies for Ukraine under the Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) programme may not have been delivered, but insisted this was not a political decision.
“I think the important takeaway is that there has not been some deliberate political directive to go out and harm Ukraine,” he told journalists as he began his visit to India.
“There’s nothing being deliberately denied to Ukraine,” he added.
Rubio said he had held a 45-minute conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday. Zelenskyy said the topics included ballistic missile interceptors, early warning of Russian attacks and the situation with Starlink and Starshield satellite services, which he said needed to be restored.
The remarks follow Reuters reporting that US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth had yet to authorise delivery of the latest PURL package purchased by NATO allies, and Zelenskyy’s own statement that the Pentagon had delayed missile deliveries. Reuters also reported that Washington had threatened to halt the PURL mechanism to press Kyiv to stop deep strikes on Russian energy infrastructure, after President Donald Trump announced a Ukraine energy ceasefire with Moscow.
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