The White House National Security spokesman said on Thursday that the United States is redirecting air defense missiles promised to other countries in order to accelerate their delivery to the Ukrainian army.
According to John Kirby, hundreds of Patriot missiles could reach Ukrainian forces this way. As a reason for this decision, he stated that Ukraine urgently and immediately needs relevant additional military capabilities to defend against Russian air attacks.
A senior National Security Council official said the United States must make a difficult but necessary decision when it reprioritizes planned sales in the near future to other countries' militaries. He did not say which countries would have to wait for the required air defense equipment, but noted that the decision would not affect Taiwan's needs to maintain self-defense capabilities against China.
John Kirby also reported that the rerouting of shipments will be for a period of 16 months, during which time Ukraine will receive the assets on a priority basis as they roll off the assembly line.
According to his conclusion, the anti-aircraft missiles arriving in Ukraine represent sufficient capabilities for Ukraine during the aforementioned period.
The White House official described the reaction of the countries affected by the postponement of the delivery as “generally understanding,” adding that they “also know the extent of the dire need that Ukraine is suffering from.”
