Ukraine war briefing: Zelenskyy claims US deliberately delaying interceptor missile deliveries to Kyiv

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said the US is deliberately delaying deliveries of interceptor missiles to Ukraine, deepening a public spat with Donald Trump. Speaking to US senators on Monday, the Ukrainian president claimed that “the Pentagon is delaying the delivery of missiles” already paid for by European countries under the prioritised Ukraine requirements list (Purl) program. According to Zelenskyy, the shipment is awaiting the signature of the US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth. A White House official, who spoke to the Washington Post on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomacy, said the US “continues to play a constructive role in speaking to both sides in working towards bringing the war to an end”.

Zelenskyy also said several European countries were ready to transfer Patriot interceptor missiles from their own stockpiles but were still awaiting US approval. “All of this suggests that some political decision has been made to slow down the support for us,” he said in remarks released by the Ukrainian presidency. The Washington ‌Post reported the Trump ⁠administration ​had not approved ⁠the ⁠transfer of the interceptor ‌missiles ‌to Ukraine.

Trump has blamed Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries for soaring fuel prices that are a major issue in coming US midterm elections. “Maybe it’s time for ​Zelenskyy ‌to get ‌somebody else to negotiate” to end the war with Russia, Trump said on Monday. Zelenskyy said US decisions taken ⁠on the war – including delays in arms shipments and restrictions on ⁠intelligence sharing – were “hard ⁠to explain”. Washington denies making any changes to intelligence-sharing with Kyiv.

Ukraine did not receive a warning from the US about an impending Russian missile attack on Sunday evening, Zelenskyy said, reviving concerns that Washington is withholding intelligence to bully Kyiv into capitulating to Moscow. Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yuri Ihnat said on Monday morning that Ukraine had not received a warning before a Russian missile barrage hit power plants in Kyiv about 11pm, Andrew Roth reports. Earlier, a Ukrainian government official had told the Guardian the US had not warned the capital about the impending missile strike. Ukraine did receive a warning before a subsequent strike, Ihnat added. Zelenskyy said on social media on Monday morning: “Once again, Russia launched a ballistic missile attack in multiple waves throughout the night, and once again, there was no warning from our partners.”

Six people, including young children, were killed when a Russian drone struck a park in Ukraine’s north-eastern Kharkiv region, authorities said. Zelenskyy decried a “pure atrocity”, saying on Facebook the drone “struck people directly – in a park near an ordinary cafe”, and a one-year-old girl was among those killed. The strike on Monday in Nova Vodolaga had also killed the girl’s mother.

Trump’s ⁠envoy Steve Witkoff is ⁠set to travel to Norway ​this week for the next round of negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine, Reuters quoted three people familiar with the matter as saying. Two of them said they expected Zelenskyy to ⁠attend the meetings. Another source said Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who was expected to take part in the talks, was sick and would attend virtually. The Oslo discussions were expected to include Zelenskyy, Norwegian prime ⁠minister Jonas Gahr Store, representatives of the E4 – made up of the UK, France, Germany and Poland – the EU and Nato. Witkoff is also set ​to travel to Russia to meet Russian president Vladimir Putin, two sources said. The people, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the schedules were tentative and could change.

Pope Leo has held a phone call with Zelenskyy, the Vatican said, and urged Ukraine and Russia to cooperate to let aid and ⁠food into the ⁠blockaded town ​of Oleshky. Residents of the Russian-occupied Ukrainian town have reported a deepening food crisis. The call ⁠on Monday came three days after the pontiff asked Putin to arrange a ceasefire so aid could enter Oleshky, a request the Kremlin did ⁠not address when it said Putin would help organise supplies.