The U.S. will not deploy the THAAD missile defense system near Ukraine – the Pentagon explained why

The United States will not deploy the THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) missile interception system near Ukraine to shoot down Russian missiles and drones.

This was stated by Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh during a briefing.

When asked why the U.S. is deploying the THAAD system in Israel to protect against Iranian threats but not in NATO countries to defend western Ukraine from Russian missile attacks, Singh responded that these are different situations.

“These are different wars, different regions, and the commitments to Israel and Ukraine are different,” the U.S. Defense Department representative said.

Singh also acknowledged that the U.S. is facing challenges replenishing its weapons stockpiles after transferring significant amounts to Ukraine.

“Our stockpiles are not infinite. You’ve seen how we’ve requested additional aid packages to support Ukraine and Israel. We are also encountering difficulties in rebuilding our defense industrial base,” Singh noted.

She emphasized that the U.S. will continue to support Ukraine on the battlefield and assist Israel.

“We will continue to work with the defense industrial base to ensure the best solutions for these challenges,” she added.

Meanwhile, several sources told “Politico” that the U.S. is intercepting missiles over Israel but not over Ukraine because Iran does not have nuclear weapons, while Russia does.

“The harsh truth, which Ukrainians may not like to hear but is unfortunately true, is that we can take the risk of shooting down Iranian missiles over Israel without provoking a direct war with Tehran that could escalate into a nuclear conflict… There’s much more risk in trying to do that with Russia,” said a senior U.S. Senate official working on Ukraine policy.

Two officials from the Biden administration echoed this point. Sending U.S. forces to intercept Russian missiles over Ukraine could lead to a direct military confrontation between the world’s two leading nuclear powers—”with potentially apocalyptic consequences.”

Recently, after an attack by the pro-Iranian Hezbollah group on an Israeli military base, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin called Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. He expressed condolences for the deaths of four Israeli soldiers and confirmed that the previously promised THAAD missile defense system would arrive in Israel “in the coming days.”