Zelensky says U.S. missile approval has been pending a month

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Oct. 26 that Ukraine had waited nearly a month for U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to approve missiles for its Patriot and NASAMS air-defense systems, and that he had instructed his team to raise the matter again with U.S. officials. Zelensky described the delay in a public statement after a conference call on arms supplies and repairs to Ukraine’s energy sector. He said Kyiv was also pursuing interceptors from other countries that hold PAC-2 and PAC-3 stocks. He did not give a date for approval or delivery. The timing comes as Ukraine seeks additional air-defense supplies ahead of winter. Zelensky had asked European Union leaders on Oct. 16 for 300 Patriot interceptors before winter; the request was not a commitment to provide them. He also said officials were preparing for a November meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group and called for faster implementation of defense decisions already under discussion. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in remarks in Mumbai on Oct. 20 that a batch awaiting Hegseth’s signature could be delayed while the United States and its partners weighed their own interceptor needs. Rubio...