Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky just called out one of Donald Trump’s top officials by name over a growing military standoff. The Ukrainian leader publicly pressured Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over delayed missile approvals as the war with Russia intensifies.
Ukraine says Patriot and NASAMS missile transfers still await Hegseth’s approval
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky publicly called out U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for delaying critical air defense supplies, The Daily Beast reported on Sunday. Zelensky said his government had waited nearly a month for Hegseth to approve transfers of missiles for Patriot and NASAMS systems.
“In particular, we have been waiting for nearly a month for Mr. Hegseth to sign off on missiles for Patriots and NASAMS,” Zelensky said after a meeting with military officials. He added that he had directed his team to raise the issue with Washington again. Conversations with other partner countries were also ongoing, he noted.
The delay comes as Ukraine faces continued Russian missile and drone attacks targeting infrastructure and other sites. Zelensky has said the United States delivers only 12 Patriot interceptors to Ukraine each month. Under NATO’s Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List initiative, allies and partners fund purchases of U.S. military equipment for Ukraine.
Zelensky recently suggested that Trump was pushing Ukraine toward capitulation rather than pressuring Russia. “I believe steps have been taken to convince Ukraine to capitulate,” Zelensky told Bloomberg. He stopped short of saying U.S. partners wanted to end the war at Ukraine’s expense but said “that’s how it looks.”
The dispute follows the collapse of Trump’s proposed “energy ceasefire” between the two nations. Russia stayed silent on the proposal before launching strikes that killed at least nine people. The attacks also left more than half a million Ukrainians without power, Al Jazeera reported.
A Pentagon spokesperson maintained that U.S. policy on supporting Ukraine had not changed. The spokesperson said the NATO-allied Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List initiative “continues unaltered.” Zelensky’s public pressure on Hegseth signals growing frustration with Washington’s pace of military aid delivery.
