US explains why it decided to prioritise supplying Ukraine with air defence missiles
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller has explained that Washington's decision to prioritise the supply of interceptor missiles for air defence systems such as Patriot to Ukraine was made after an assessment of Ukraine's arms needs.
Source: Matthew Miller at a briefing on 20 June, as reported by European Pravda.
Details: The spokesperson said that relevant discussions with the Ukrainian government had also taken place.
Quote: "We’ve seen the Russia military targeting Ukrainian cities. We’ve seen them targeting energy infrastructure, making clear that they want to turn the lights off and turn the heat off when winter rolls back around.
And so it has been clear to us that we needed to do something to increase Ukraine’s air defence capabilities."
Details: He added that this includes additional air defence systems from all over the world to improve Ukraine's air defence, and the provision of interceptor missiles.
Quote: "So that’s the decision that the President took, which is to re-sequence some of the deliveries of Patriot interceptors – the missiles that go up and intercept missiles that have been fired by Russia – to re-sequence them from other countries, because of the dire need that Ukraine has and the dire threat that Ukraine faces, to make sure that Ukraine is getting what it needs now to defend itself from this intense Russian air bombardment."
Background:
- On 20 June, the White House confirmed that the United States would prioritise the delivery of anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine over other countries that have placed orders. This includes missiles for the Patriot and NASAMS systems.
- A number of media outlets, including the Financial Times, have previously announced that the US intends to suspend all current orders for interceptor missiles for the Patriot air defence system until Ukraine has sufficient equipment to defend itself against Russian air attacks.
- Earlier, it was reported that the United States would not be able to deliver Patriot missiles to Switzerland on time because it was giving priority to new deliveries to Ukraine.
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