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Rubio Pushes NATO Diplomacy to Secure Air Defense Support for Ukraine
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![Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko]( "Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko")
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Washington hopes to persuade some NATO allies to transfer Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine.
Speaking at a press conference in Malaysia on July 10, Rubio emphasized that Ukraine urgently needs more Patriot batteries to protect its skies.
“Ukrainians need more Patriot batteries. Many European countries have them, but no one wants to part with theirs. I hope that will change… I hope we can convince some of our NATO partners to send these batteries to Ukraine,” he said.
Rubio noted that several allies have already ordered Patriots from the United States and are expecting deliveries soon.
“It would be great if one of them volunteered to delay delivery and instead send those systems to Ukraine. We are looking for creative ways to provide them [Ukraine] with the defensive weapons they need,” he added.
Earlier, addressing recent delays in military shipments, Rubio clarified that the United States has not made a political decision to halt weapons deliveries to Ukraine. Rather, temporary pauses were due to technical reasons, including inventory checks.
“There was no political decision to stop arming Ukraine. We were simply verifying our stockpiles, which required a temporary pause in the supply of certain types of munitions,” he told reporters.
His remarks followed the Pentagon’s recent decision to temporarily suspend the transfer of certain weapons systems, including missile defense assets.
