Exclusive: US is 'playing politics' with Patriot missiles - Finnish minister

Finnish Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen has blamed a lack of political willingness in Washington for delays in delivering US-made Patriot interceptor missiles to Ukraine, despite European allies having already paid for them. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT In an exclusive interview with Euronews, Antti Häkkänen said that Europe has already funded the interceptors, but that politics was standing in the way of the powerful systems being delivered to the Ukrainian army. "Winter is coming and Russia is preparing huge attacks on Ukraine's civil infrastructure, energy infrastructure," he said. "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," he added. "But we need the political willingness also from the US side to start the deliveries." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has previously accused US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth of holding up the transfers. "We have been waiting for nearly a month for Mr Hegseth to sign off on missiles for Patriots," Zelenskyy wrote on social media in October. European NATO allies and Canada purchase weapons for Ukraine from the US through a funding mechanism at NATO called the Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL). The US-made weapons require a final approval from the US Defence Secretary before being transferred to another country. Ukraine receives some of its crucial PAC-3 Patriot interceptors from orders through PURL paid for by European countries. Others are supplied through bilateral transfers from existing national stocks, including those held by Germany. In a recent two-week period, Zelenskyy said Russia had fired over 100 ballistic missiles ay Kyiv and the surrounding region saying the lack of interceptors was making Ukrainian civilians increasingly vulnerable. Speaking at the Finnish Ministry of Defence in Helsinki, Häkkänen said Europe had already paid for the systems and was calling on Washington to fulfil its commitments. Asked whether Hegseth was personally responsible for the delay, Häkkänen said he did not know what was behind the hold-up. "I'm not familiar with what is the main problem, but we know that the Ukrainians need Patriots," he said. "Europeans have given the funding for that and now it's only a matter of political arrangements," he added. NATO allies reluctant to release more Patriots Meanwhile, a NATO source has told Euronews that the alliance's military chief is persuading seven other NATO countries to donate more from their own stocks. However, those countries are reluctant to do so without guarantees that the US will replace what they provide. The Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) "is trying to get seven nations who own Patriots to give more to Ukraine, but so far they're not keen to give them unless they're being replaced by newly produced stocks from the US," a source told Euronews. "I think it's merely a matter of production constraints," they said. No official explanation has been given for the apparent delay in the US-approved transfers, which Zelenskyy says has lasted around a month. But the problem is persisting amid wider tensions between Washington and Kyiv. Trump recently rolled back newly agrees Russian sanctions and authorised Russian diesel sales in an apparent effort to curb rising oil prices, which were affecting American consumers. He also called for Zelenskyy to be replaced. It was during this time the Ukrainian army temporarily lost access to the US-controlled Starlink satellite system owned by Elon Musk's Space "X". Global Patriot shortage adds to Ukraine's challenges Complicating the challenge for Ukraine is the ongoing global shortage of Patriot systems. The US-Israel war in Iran has worsened the problem where the US has reportedly burned through vast quantities of its stockpiles. US production capacity for new Patriot systems is complex, time-consuming and expensive. According to separate Ukrainian sources, the US produces around just 60-65 Patriot interceptors a month - far fewer than the number of ballistic missiles Russia launches. Demand for the systems comes also from the America's own military and the ongoing war in Iran, which US sources have told Euronews may be about to resume and may also be a reason the US is retaining its supplies. Demand from other theatres is also high as the US sells Patriots to Israel as well as other countries in the Gulf. Häkkänen also expressed broad support for diplomatic efforts to end Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, including recent contacts involving Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. He said Europe needs to communicate a straight message to Putin, that it'll never abandon Ukraine, and is willing to be "tough" for as long as the war lasts. "We have to deliver the straight, clear messages from Zelensky to Putin" that Europe will be "tough" on Moscow, Häkkänen said. He warned that Russia is advancing its military in all domains. And while there is no conventional threat to the rest of Europe, there could be in the future if EU countries don't step up in deterrence and defence capabilities. "Russia is stepping up its military in all domains, from traditional conventional warfare and also nuclear capabilities, and they are building new infrastructure, increasing their manpower," he said. "Europeans have to ramp up their defence fast, and also counter these hybrid threats much more efficiently," he said.