Kiev regrets that American diplomats “are constantly in talks with Iran and have no time for Ukraine”.
Ukraine collateral damage in the Iran conflict. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed concern on Tuesday, April 14th in Oslo that the United States is unable to deliver enough Patriot missile interceptors for his country’s air defense due to the war in the Middle East. “From the very beginning of the war in the Middle East, we understood that we could face difficulties,” acknowledged the Ukrainian president during a press conference in Norway.
He specified that this posed a problem mainly for the Patriot PAC-3 interceptor missiles, as well as for the PAC-2 missiles, which Ukraine mainly purchases under the PURL program. Launched last year, this program allows Ukraine to receive American equipment financed by European countries. Volodymyr Zelensky noted that the deliveries were arriving “slowly.” “I think we could face these types of problems in the very near future,” stated Volodymyr Zelensky to journalists, emphasizing that it was a “very difficult situation for us.”
“We are trying to find different paths, alternatives, to obtain PAC-2 and PAC-3,” he affirmed, adding that Kiev is in contact with countries in the Middle East and Europe. Talks led by the United States to end the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II have been at a standstill since the outbreak of the war in Iran at the end of March, and Russian and Ukrainian negotiators have not met since February in Geneva.
Earlier on Tuesday, in an interview with German public television ZDF, the Ukrainian president lamented that American negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner “are constantly in talks with Iran and have no time for Ukraine.” The issue of American arms delivery to Kiev has become “a big problem,” he said after a visit to Berlin. “If the war drags on, there will be fewer weapons for Ukraine. This is critical, especially in terms of anti-aircraft defense,” he explained.
