US will not ship some weapons pledged to Ukraine

[ad_1] WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. is halting some shipments of weapons to Ukraine amid considerations that its personal stockpiles have declined an excessive amount of, officers stated Tuesday, a setback for the nation because it tries to fend off escalating attacks from Russia .

Sure munitions have been beforehand promised to Ukraine below the Biden administration to help its defenses throughout the greater than three-year-old war . The pause displays a brand new set of priorities below President Donald Trump and got here after Protection Division officers scrutinized present U.S. stockpiles and raised considerations.

“This determination was made to place America’s pursuits first following a assessment of our nation’s army assist and help to different international locations throughout the globe,” White Home spokesperson Anna Kelly stated in an announcement. “The energy of america Armed Forces stays unquestioned — simply ask Iran.”

That was a reference to Trump not too long ago ordering U.S. missile strikes against nuclear sites in Iran .

Pentagon shares of some weapons discovered to be low, official says The Pentagon assessment decided that shares have been too low on some weapons beforehand pledged, so pending shipments of some objects gained’t be despatched, in accordance with a U.S. official who spoke on situation of anonymity to supply info that has not but been made public.

The Protection Division didn't present particulars on what particular weapons have been being held again.

“America’s army has by no means been extra prepared and extra succesful,” spokesman Sean Parnell stated, including that the major tax cut and spending package shifting via Congress “ensures that our weapons and protection techniques are modernized to guard in opposition to twenty first century threats for generations to come back.”

The halt of some weapons from the U.S. is a blow to Ukraine as Russia has not too long ago launched a few of its biggest aerial attacks of the conflict, in an escalating bombing marketing campaign that has additional dashed hopes for a breakthrough in peace efforts championed by Trump. Talks between the edges have floor to a halt.

The U.S. stoppage was first reported by Politico.

Thus far, the U.S. has supplied Ukraine greater than $66 billion price of weapons and army help since Russia invaded its neighbor in February 2022.

Over the course of the conflict, the U.S. has routinely pressed for allies to supply air protection techniques to Ukraine. However many are reluctant to surrender the high-tech techniques, notably international locations in Japanese Europe that additionally really feel threatened by Russia.

Elbridge Colby, the Protection Division undersecretary for policy , stated officers proceed “to supply the president with strong choices to proceed army assist to Ukraine, constant along with his purpose of bringing this tragic conflict to an finish.”

“On the identical time, the division is rigorously analyzing and adapting its method to attaining this goal whereas additionally preserving U.S. forces’ readiness for Administration protection priorities,” Colby stated in an announcement.

Trump met with Ukrainian chief Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the NATO summit final week and had left open the opportunity of sending Kyiv more U.S.-made Patriot air defense missile systems , acknowledging they'd assist the Ukrainian trigger.

“They do need to have the antimissile missiles, OK, as they name them, the Patriots,” Trump stated then. “And we’re going to see if we will make some accessible. We want them, too. We’re supplying them to Israel, and so they’re very efficient, 100% efficient. Onerous to consider how efficient. They do need that greater than another factor.”

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivers a speech on the Council of Europe after signing the authorized devices essential to launch the Particular Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression in opposition to Ukraine, in Strasbourg, japanese France, Wednesday, June 25, 2025. (AP Picture/Pascal Bastien)

Learn Extra

Trump administration shifts outlook on Ukraine army assist These feedback hinted at eager about offering weapons to Ukraine that’s begun to alter throughout the administration in latest months.

In testimony earlier than lawmakers in June, Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth stated he has moved rapidly to quash wasteful applications and redirect funding to Trump’s high goals.

Hegseth stated a negotiated peace between Russia and Ukraine, which has been promoted for months by Trump, makes America look robust, though Moscow is the aggressor within the battle. He additionally stated the protection finances contains laborious selections and “displays the fact that Europe must step up extra for the protection of its personal continent. And President Trump deserves the credit score for that.”

The protection secretary informed lawmakers final month that some U.S. safety spending for Ukraine was nonetheless within the pipeline, with out offering particulars. However he stated such help — which has been strong for the previous two years — could be lowered.

“This administration takes a really totally different view of that battle,” Hegseth stated. “We consider {that a} negotiated peaceable settlement is in the perfect curiosity of each events and our nation’s pursuits.”

The change comes after Hegseth skipped a meeting last month of a global group to coordinate army assist to Ukraine that the U.S. created three years in the past. Hegseth’s predecessor, Lloyd Austin, fashioned the group after Russia attacked Ukraine, and Hegseth’s absence was the primary time the U.S. protection secretary wasn’t in attendance.

Below Austin’s management, the U.S. served as chair of the group, and he and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Employees attended month-to-month conferences, which have been each in individual and by video.

Hegseth had beforehand stepped away from a management position of the Ukraine Protection Contact Group — turning that over to Germany and the UK — earlier than abandoning the gathering altogether .

___

Related Press author David Klepper contributed to this report.

window.fbAsyncInit = function() { FB.init({ appId : '870613919693099', xfbml : true, version : 'v2.9' }); };

(function(d, s, id){ var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); [ad_2] Source link