WASHINGTON, September 3. /TASS/. Pentagon Press Secretary Patrick Ryder declined to comment on earlier media reports that the United States was close to handing over JASSM long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine.

"I saw those press reports. I don't have anything <…>, no announcements to make," he told reporters.

Reuters said on September 3 that Washington was close to an agreement to deliver JASSM long-range cruise missiles to the Kiev government. However, Ukraine will have to wait for a few months before related technical difficulties are resolved. The announcement on adding these surface-to-air missiles in the upcoming military aid package "is expected to be announced this autumn, three sources said, though a final decision has not been made," the agency reported.

According to one unnamed official, "there were efforts" to make the missile operable "with non-Western fighter jets."

Prior to that, the Politico newspaper said, citing people familiar with the matter, that the US is open to providing Ukraine with the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles (JASSM), although no final decision has yet been made. The White House, the Department of State and the Department of Defense left TASS requests for a comment on the matter unanswered.