President Joe Biden’s administration will begin redirecting deliveries of new batches of air-defense missiles to Ukraine, at the expense of other countries waiting for the United States to fill their orders.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Ukrainian forces are “in desperate need of additional air defense capabilities,” amid a particularly heightened campaign of Russian air and missile strikes.
“We have continued to dig deep and provide Ukraine with a variety of air defense systems and interceptor missiles from our own stockpiles, including those of the Patriot system, NASAMs, and of course, the Hawks [air-defense missiles],” Mr. Kirby said during a June 20 press call….