WASHINGTON, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. administration has not approved the transfer of Patriot interceptor missiles to Ukraine amid tensions between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, The Washington Post reported on Monday.
At least some of the missiles are being transferred from countries friendly to Ukraine, but the handovers require approval from U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the report said, citing a U.S. official and three other people familiar with the matter.
Hegseth has neither formally rejected the transfers nor completed the required steps to approve them, according to the report.
The United States retains control because the weapons are U.S.-made and are shipped abroad under the agreement that transfers to other countries require U.S. sign-off, said the report.
A Ukrainian official told the newspaper last week that only "a couple" of interceptor missiles remained in Ukraine's stockpile.
The delay comes as Trump has repeatedly criticized Zelensky in recent weeks.
"I think it's time for somebody else to negotiate on behalf of Ukraine," Trump told reporters on Monday. Earlier this month, he called for Kiev to "get a new president."
"Zelensky doesn't know what he's talking about," Trump said. "Zelensky is a man that should have had this war settled a long time ago."
"Russia, frankly, has been fine on Ukraine. They haven't been doing much," Trump said.
In an interview on Sunday, Zelensky said he did not want to believe that Washington was seeking to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict at Ukraine's expense. "But that's how it looks," he said. ■
