Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged Donald Trump to provide Ukraine with US-made interceptor missiles if he cannot persuade Vladimir Putin to halt attacks on the country’s energy infrastructure.
“If you cannot rein Putin in, then give us interceptor missiles so I can protect our energy infrastructure,” the Ukrainian president told an Italian newspaper in an interview published on Tuesday.
The appeal came as relations between Kyiv and Washington deteriorated, with Mr Zelenskyy accusing the Trump administration of delaying Patriot missile shipments purchased by European countries for Ukraine.
Ukraine has warned that it is close to exhausting the Patriot interceptors used to destroy Russian ballistic missiles. Mr Zelenskyy told US lawmakers that the Pentagon was holding up deliveries and that Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth had not approved the shipments.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said it could be accurate that a batch of interceptors bought for Ukraine had not yet arrived, but denied that there was any political decision to harm the country.
“There has not been some deliberate political directive to go out and harm Ukraine,” Mr Rubio said, adding that the United States had to balance its commitments to other partners and its own requirements.
He said Patriot interceptors were in demand around the world, naming Saudi Arabia, Israel and the United States among those seeking supplies. “When a country doesn’t get interceptors from the United States, it’s not because we’re denying,” he said.
Mr Rubio also said Mr Trump was frustrated by claims that he had ordered intelligence-sharing restrictions or was deliberately acting against Ukraine. The administration has denied imposing restrictions on Starshield, the military-grade version of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite network.
Mr Zelenskyy has said Starshield access remains necessary for Ukraine to intercept Russian drones. A senior Pentagon official said there had been “no change” to US policy on intelligence sharing or capabilities being enabled for European countries to provide to Ukraine.
The latest dispute unfolded as Mr Zelenskyy prepared to meet the US envoy Steve Witkoff in Oslo. Jared Kushner, Mr Trump’s son-in-law and fellow envoy, was expected to join remotely, while Finnish President Alexander Stubb was also due to take part in discussions hosted by Norway.
The talks come after another night of Russian missile and drone strikes on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities. Ukrainian officials said at least four people were killed in the latest attacks on the capital.
Mr Trump has intensified his criticism of Mr Zelenskyy, saying the Ukrainian leader “doesn’t want to end this war, and probably never did” and suggesting it might be time for someone else to negotiate.
Mr Zelenskyy said Ukraine had sought an open and honest relationship with Washington, but argued that it could not be expected to accept Russian attacks without the means to defend itself. “If they strike us and we cannot strike back — that is neither honest nor fair,” he said.
