Trump secretary admits delays in arms deliveries to Ukraine, but denies 'political guidance' to harm Kiev

The United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, admitted this Tuesday (20) that there are delays in the delivery of weapons to Ukraine, but denied the existence of a "political orientation to harm" the European country amid the war against Russia.

At a news conference in India, Rubio acknowledged that a batch of Patriot air defense interceptors purchased for Ukraine through a priority country military financing (PURL) program "may not have been delivered."

“I think the important conclusion is that there was no deliberate policy direction to harm Ukraine. There is nothing being deliberately denied to Ukraine,” Rubio said.

Rubio added that he spoke on the phone for 45 minutes with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday. Zelensky said topics covered included ballistic missile interceptors, early warnings of Russian attacks and the status of Starlink and Starshield satellite services, which the Ukrainian president said needed to be reestablished.

The statements came after Reuters previously reported that US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had not yet authorized the delivery of the latest package of US weapons purchased by NATO allies through this program, called the Ukraine Priority Requirements List (PURL).

Zelensky had also said the Pentagon had delayed the delivery of missiles under the program amid deteriorating relations between Kiev and Washington this month as US President Donald Trump sought rapprochement with Moscow.

Reuters reported that the US had threatened to suspend the PURL mechanism to pressure Kiev to halt its long-range attacks on Russian energy infrastructure, while Trump announced an energy truce between Ukraine and Russia.