The US has no Patriot missile systems to spare for Ukraine, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has told MSNBC.
The official was responding to reported comments by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky. Addressing a virtual meeting of the so-called Ukraine Defense Contact Group on Friday, Zelensky demanded “at least seven” Patriot batteries from his Western backers. Kiev’s main sponsor, however, has indicated that it has none to spare.
“The US Patriot systems right now are being deployed around the world, including in the Middle East, to protect US troops,” Sullivan said.
“If we can unlock further American Patriot batteries we would send them. But we are doing a lot of the supplying of the actual missiles that go into those batteries that get fired,” the official insisted.
The Pentagon has pledged additional Patriot munitions as part of a “historic” $6 billion assistance package announced on Friday. However, the interceptors could take months or even years to arrive, as the batch will not come from existing Pentagon stockpiles. Instead, the announcement “represents the beginning of a contracting process” with the US defense industry.
Manufactured by US arms giant Raytheon, a single MIM-104 Patriot battery costs over $1 billion. It consists of multiple truck-mounted units, including power, radar, antenna, engagement control and other support vehicles, as well as up to eight launchers with interceptor missiles.
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