'It couldn't be any worse' — Zelensky sounds alarm on Patriot air defense missile shortage

Prefer on Google by Kollen Post A Patriot air defense system of the German Armed Forces stands at the airporе on 01 September 2025. (Michael Fischer / picture alliance / Getty Images) Ukraine's supply of U.S.-produced Patriot air defense missiles is facing a critical shortage, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with German ZDF published on April 14. "The situation is in such a deficit, it could not be any worse," Zelensky said, adding that the war in the Middle East is negatively affecting Ukraine and reducing its chances of receiving military aid. With the cutoff of U.S. aid to Ukraine under President Donald Trump, Patriot missiles have become a particular sticking point. Made only in the U.S., despite new manufacturing under development in Germany, PAC-3 missiles remain by far the best defense Ukraine has against Russian ballistic missiles, which strike frequently. According to Zelensky, Ukraine has secured additional contributions from Germany and Norway to the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) program in recent days, and reached agreements with Berlin on the supply of PAC-2 missiles for air defense forces, as well as additional launchers for IRIS-T systems. "We are receiving (air defenses) slower than is possible, but we are receiving them," the president added. U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance called ending U.S. aid to Ukraine "one of the things I am proudest that we have done in this administration" at an April 14 event in the state of Georgia. Still, Zelensky was hesitant to condemn America's current posture. "I feel like (Trump) said from the beginning that he would stay in the middle. This shows that he is neither on my side nor on Russia's." Zelensky said. "If the U.S. does not put pressure on Russia, then they will no longer be afraid." Zelensky said in late March that Ukraine could help open the Strait of Hormuz as part of negotiations for weapons sales with Gulf nations amid the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. The applicability of Ukraine's Black Sea corridor experience to the Strait of Hormuz is questionable, but he repeated the proposal in the recent interview. "The Strait of Hormuz is closed, and we want to unblock it. We already have experience in the Black Sea," Zelensky said, adding that "America has not asked us yet." Since the drop-off in U.S. funding, Germany has emerged as Ukraine's "largest strategic partner in Europe," Zelensky said. The interview came on the heels of a strategic partnership signed the same day, along with a number of agreements for co-production with Ukrainian defense firms on German territory.