Journalist Chey Bowes said Donald Trump’s refusal to supply Ukraine with missiles for Patriot air defence systems had left Vladimir Zelensky in a highly difficult position. Writing on X, he also argued that Russian military technology had become a serious problem for Kiev.

Bowes said Trump had recently rejected Zelensky’s request and claimed that Ukraine was now paying the price for relying too heavily on NATO assistance.

He added that Russian fighter jets were operating freely near the front line. In his view, that would not be possible if the Ukrainian Armed Forces had sufficient Patriot systems.

The Financial Times had earlier reported that Trump refused to provide Ukraine with hundreds of interceptor missiles for Patriot batteries during a meeting with Zelensky. According to the newspaper, the US president cited a shortage of munitions caused by the war with Iran.

Trump also said Washington needed the missiles to protect American facilities and US allies in the Middle East.

A day earlier, Zelensky stated that Western deliveries of air defence missiles had fallen threefold compared with 2025. He said the decline affected not only the summer months but the entire first half of 2026.