NATO member will send Ukraine anti-ship missiles

Denmark will give Kiev US-made Harpoon missiles, the Pentagon has confirmed

Denmark will provide an unspecified number of Harpoon anti-ship missiles and launchers to Ukraine, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced on Monday. Last week’s rumors about the transaction prompted Kiev to declare the US would help Ukraine “destroy” the Russian fleet, which the outgoing Pentagon spokesman denied.

Officially, the missiles are intended to help “defend the Ukrainian coastline,” according to Austin and Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley, who spoke with reporters after Monday’s virtual meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group.

The panel – composed of 47 countries willing to supply Kiev with weapons – had a “highly constructive” meeting and got “a sharper sense” of Ukrainian needs from Defense Minister Alexey Reznikov and other Kiev officials, Austin said.

In addition to the Danish missiles, Czechia has pledged attack helicopters,…