Yashwant Raj Washington, June 20 : The US on Thursday announced, that in an "extraordinary" step, it was reprioritising "hundreds" of air defence missiles ordered by other countries and sending them instead to Ukraine for its defence from Russia.

These interceptor missiles are meant for American-supplied Patriot and NASAMS air defence systems.

The White House said missiles ordered by other countries will be delivered but will be delayed by at least 16 months. It refused to disclose the number of countries whose orders will be affected but said Taiwan was not among them.

Announcing the extraordinary measure, John Kirby, the spokesperson for the US National Security Council, said that the broader message for Russia was that "if you think you're going to be able to outlast Ukraine, and if you think you're gonna be able to outlast those of us who are supporting Ukraine, you're just flat out wrong. And we're going to make sure that we give you print the critical air defence capabilities they need now and into the future".

Asked about the number of these reprioritized missiles, he said they were "in the realm of the hundreds".

Kirby went on to say the countries whose orders would be delayed had been informed and that they understood why the US was doing it.

"We have of course informed all the affected countries that we are taking this extraordinary step and we're making every effort to minimize any negative impact to countries with affected foreign military sales cases. If any of our other partners were ever in a situation similar to Ukraine's we would go to extraordinary lengths to support their security as well."

These missiles will begin reaching Ukraine before the end of summer and the supplies will continue over the next 16 months, shoring up the country to defend its cities and populations from Russian missiles.

US President Joe Biden has committed his administration to defend Ukraine for as long as it takes and has sent billions of dollars worth of defence equipment by itself and with allies in Europe and Asia.

/IANS