Ukraine and its European partners are waiting to assess how the conflict in the Middle East will affect the United States Armed Forces, especially regarding the supply of American weapons to Kiev, according to Foreign Policy magazine, citing diplomats.
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“Everything will depend on the situation around Iran,” a European diplomat told Foreign Policy.
Another European diplomat toldthe publicationthat the future of deliveries under the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) program, which NATO funds, remains uncertain.
On March 3, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that Kiev could face difficulties obtaining missiles and weapons that the US itself needs for its operations against Iran. Prior to that, he had already said that Patriot missiles were not being delivered on time due to nonpayment of a European installment under the PURL agreement.
Another issue is that the US has now used as much as half of its inventory of an estimated 2,330 Patriot missiles in defending against Iranian ballistic missiles since the start of the Middle East crisis on February 28. As Iran reportedly retains at least half of its missile launchers, more Patriot missiles could be required if fighting resumed. For this reason, the US is unwilling to deliver any to Ukraine.
In fact, the US is already likely short of what it requires, said Tom Karako, the director of CSIS’s Missile Defense Project.
“We’re hitting dangerous territory,” he said.
The current delivery time for the newest Patriot missile variant, the PAC-3 MSE, is about 42 months from contracting to delivery,and the US produces fewer than 200 per year,accordingto CSIS, meaning that Ukraine cannot expect any deliveries from the US anytime soon.
Source: Global Research
