The State Department said Monday that reports the U.S. sent defective anti-tank missiles to Ukraine earlier this year are false.
The recent claims by a Russian media outlet are “outrageous” propaganda and the U.S. would not sell allies and partners the shoulder-fired Javelin missiles if they were not in working order, Ambassador Tina Kaidanow, the acting assistant secretary for political-military affairs, said in a press call.
The Trump administration reversed earlier policy against supplying lethal weapons to Ukraine as it fights against a Moscow-backed insurgency and began selling the Javelins in February. The missiles are made by Raytheon and Lockheed Martin.
“Why would we do such a thing? And so that is purely fake news, if you want to call it that, and propaganda of the worst sort. And I can only tell you that, again, that’s just outrageous, frankly, and certainly not the case,” Kaidanow said in a transcript released by the department.
The State Department oversees U.S. weapons sales abroad.
The U.S. had already been supplying non-lethal military aid to Ukraine to counter Russia and the Senate Armed Services Committee under Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., had long urged for lethal aid such as the Javelins.
The administration approved sales late last year of the Javelins, which support believe could help the former Soviet satellite shift the balance against Moscow.
