Some shipments have been stopped ‘to put America’s interests first’, White House says

The US is halting some shipments of weapons to Ukraine amid concerns that its own stockpiles have declined too much, officials said Tuesday, a setback for the country as it tries to fend off escalating attacks from Russia.

Certain munitions were previously promised to Ukraine under the Biden administration to aid its defences during the more than three-year-old war. The pause reflects a new set of priorities under President Donald Trump and came after defence department officials scrutinised US stockpiles and raised concerns.

“This decision was made to put America’s interests first following a review of our nation’s military support and assistance to other countries across the globe,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement. “The strength of the United States Armed Forces remains unquestioned – just ask Iran.”

  • geneva_convenience@lemmy.mlEnglish
    13·
    1 day ago

    Trump implied as much as the article states.

    At the end of last week’s Nato summit, Donald Trump hinted that supplies of Patriot missile interceptors were running down because some had been supplied to Israel, though he suggested he would like to help Kyiv.

    After a meeting with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the US president acknowledged that Ukraine did “want to have the anti-missile systems, as they call the Patriots, and we’re going to see if we can make some available”.

    But Trump added: “They’re very hard to get. We need them. We were supplying them to Israel,” implying that supporting Israel in its war with Iran – a priority for the Republican administration – had set back its willingness to help Kyiv.