Finland calls for US political will to transfer already paid missiles to Ukraine
Photo: Patriot air defense system (Getty Images)
Finland has accused the United States of lacking "political will" due to delays in delivering already-paid-for interceptor missiles for Ukraine’s Patriot air defense systems, states Finnish Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen in an interview with Euronews.
According to the head of the Finnish defence ministry, European countries have fully funded the purchase of interceptor missiles for Ukrainian air defense systems. However, the actual delivery of weapons to the Armed Forces of Ukraine is currently being hindered by political factors on the part of Washington.
"Now is the most critical time to have all the air defence capabilities for Ukraine. We have the funding, now we need the stocks to be delivered to Ukraine. But we need the political willingness also from the US side to start the deliveries," emphasized Häkkänen.
When asked whether US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth bears personal responsibility for this, Häkkänen noted that he was not privy to details regarding specific officials.
"I'm not familiar with what is the main problem, but we know that the Ukrainians need Patriots. Europeans have given the funding for that and now it's only a matter of political arrangements," added the Finnish minister.
Meanwhile, according to sources within the Alliance cited by Euronews, the Supreme Allied Commander Europe is currently persuading seven member states to transfer additional missiles to Ukraine from their own arsenals.
However, these countries are hesitant to release weapons from their stockpiles without clear guarantees from Washington regarding the rapid replacement of the transferred missiles.
The US did not include Patriot air defense missiles in its new military aid package for Ukraine.
The US has approved the potential sale of 500 PAC-3 interceptor missiles to Ukraine for a total of $2.1 billion. However, these missiles may not arrive for several years.
