Zelensky says US is pressuring Ukraine to force its surrender

Zelensky accuses the US of using the Patriots to force surrender

Twelve anti-ballistic missiles a month. That is the supply Ukraine receives from the US, according to Volodymyr Zelensky, while Russia launches dozens of ballistic missiles in a single attack on a regular basis. With that gap on the table, the Ukrainian president told Bloomberg that Washington is taking steps to convince Kyiv to capitulate, and denounced that authorization for part of the weaponry already paid for by European partners remains blocked at the White House.

The accusation is not abstract. Zelensky maintains that the US has authorized part of the missiles for Patriot systems and withheld the rest, and rejects the technical explanation: "this is not a technical problem", he stressed. The weaponry was funded by European allies, not the US taxpayer, a detail that, according to his account, turns the blockade into a political decision rather than a budgetary constraint.

The swap Zelensky put on the table

The Ukrainian proposal was a trade: stop bombing Russian diesel production and export facilities in exchange for additional anti-ballistic missiles for the Patriots. The response, according to his account, was that "they just want us to stop attacking diesel", with a warning of retaliation if the campaign continued. Zelensky added that if Ukraine attacks those facilities, the US "disconnects it from something."

That something has a name. The Ukrainian president has denounced restrictions on the internet connection his Army receives from SpaceX, Elon Musk's company, as well as interruptions in the transfer of intelligence information that allows preparation for Russian ballistic missile launches. Two levers, satellites and data, that appear in no treaty but weigh more than an aid package.

Electoral politics as the explanation

Zelensky attributes the measures to the campaign for the November 3 legislative elections. "Politics is very aggressive in election times", he said, and expressed hope that relations would improve after the vote: "I think there is now an agony, but after the elections life will go on and I believe everything will be calmer." In other words, the strategic partner operates by its own internal calendar.

The origin of the crisis, according to Zelensky's own account, lies in the deal Trump closed with Vladimir Pilingui to allow Russia to resume oil exports despite the sanctions in force. A revenue channel peine for the Kremlin while Kyiv's interceptors are rationed. The timing of that decision and the missile blockade are not simultaneous by chance.

The contradiction on the ground

On the military front, the paradox is hard to sustain: if Washington has to pressure Ukraine to the table, the implicit argument is that Russia is not winning enough to impose terms on its own. External pressure substitutes for victory on the battlefield. Or so the very fact that it is needed suggests.

The official account is not unanimous within Ukraine either. A member of the Rada (Ukraine's parliament) said the US had halted arms sales, and another lawmaker publicly denied it. CIA Director John Ratcliffe confirmed on Fox News a "selective," not total, cut in the flow, without specifying whether it took effect immediately. Three versions of the same supply line.

The question left hanging is not whether Ukraine can hold out without those missiles, but how many months of rationing it takes for the answer to stop mattering. Twelve a month is a figure that does not stand on its own.