Hegseth says Ukraine posture unchanged, but ‘our guys’ need interceptors too

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday that the U.S. government’s posture toward Ukraine is unchanged, but emphasized that “our guys” need Patriot missiles interceptors too.

“There’s a lot of things that have been said in the press that are not true about the Department of War,” Hegseth told reporters in Eau Claire, Wisc. when asked about reports of the Pentagon holding up some Patriot missile interceptor transfer from Kyiv allies.

“We haven’t changed our posture in any way toward the Ukrainians, but certainly with things like interceptors, we want to make sure our guys have the most possible as well,” Hegseth said.

The Ukrainian military relies on Patriot interceptors to shoot down Russian drones and missiles that have been lighting up Ukrainian cities since the full-scale invasion began in 2022.

Hegseth remarks come following reports that the U.S. was holding up the delivery of the weapons systems to Ukraine.

President Trump has been feuding with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky while suggesting the fault for the war lies more with Ukraine and Zelensky than Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Trump over the last two weeks signed a deal allow Russia to export diesel fuel to the U.S., and then waived sanctions on Russia put into place by recently approved legislation named for the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).

“Well, as the president has said, Ukraine’s had a heroic effort, and there’s been a great deal of contributions,” Hegseth said Tuesday. “In fact, so much so under the previous administration that they emptied stockpiles that the president is making sure we refill. That’s part of the arsenal of freedom, and not only are we not refilling, we’re going even further with those stockpiles.

“So that’s and President Zelensky knows that we’ve had very earnest conversations with him about it, but I think what Marco said, what the Secretary of State said about that, is spot on,” Hegseth said, referring to Sec. of State Marco Rubio.

“Our policy hasn’t changed. Ultimately, the President does want to see peace. He believes that the killing should stop. It’s it’s not necessary that it need to continue, and he wants both sides to come together on that.“

Trump on Tuesday at a news event in the Oval Office again called for the war to end, noting the high number of casualties on both sides.