(The Hill) The Department of Defense has halted the delivery of some air defense missiles and munitions to Ukraine due to concerns about U.S. military stockpiles being depleted.
“The Department of Defense continues to provide the President with robust options to continue military aid to Ukraine, consistent with his goal of bringing this tragic war to an end. At the same time, the Department is rigorously examining and adapting its approach to achieving this objective while also preserving U.S. forces’ readiness for Administration defense priorities,” the Pentagon’s undersecretary for policy, Elbridge Colby, told on Tuesday.
“Department of Defense leadership works as a cohesive and smoothly-running team under the leadership of Secretary of Defense Hegseth,” Colby added. “This is yet another attempt to portray division that does not exist.”
The White House confirmed the decision, saying it was made after a review of the U.S. military’s backing of other nations around the world.
“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 to multiple outlets.
“The strength of the United States Armed Forces remains unquestioned just ask Iran,” Kelly added, referring to the U.S. military’s bombing of Iran’s three vital nuclear sites on June 21.
The U.S. has given tens of billions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of the Eastern European country in February 2022.
Trump, who has long pushed to bring an end to the three-year Russia-Ukraine war, indicated last week at the NATO summit in The Hague of being open to sending missiles for Ukraine’s Patriot air defense systems.
“They [Ukraine] do want to have the anti-missile missiles. As they call them the Patriots, and we’re going to see if we can make some available,” Trump said.
In early March, the Trump administration paused military aid to Ukraine following a tense Oval Office meeting between the president and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Intelligence sharing was also briefly paused, but both were resumed a week later.
The newest pause in weapons transfers includes 155 mm Howitzer munitions, Patriot interceptors, Stinger surface-to-air missiles, grenade launchers, and over 100 Hellfire missiles, NBC News reported on Tuesday, citing six sources.
Politico first reported on the pause.
On Sunday, Russia launched a massive aerial assault, attacking Ukraine with 477 drones and more than 60 missiles, according to Ukraine’s Air Force.
