Kyiv has been left scrambling after the Pentagon made the sudden decision to stop supplying air defenses to Ukraine, citing concerns over U.S. stockpiles.
The Ukrainian government has been left blindsided by the move, a source told The Washington Post, with the country’s Foreign Ministry urgently summoning the U.S. ambassador to “check with the Americans what’s really happening.”
Crucial air defense systems are among the munitions being withdrawn from Ukraine, with the Kyiv Independent reporting that Patriot missiles, precision artillery rounds, Hellfire missiles, drones, and other missiles used by F-16 fighter jets are under threat.
The decision to halt some shipments to Ukraine was driven by Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby, according to Politico, after a Defense Department review of U.S. munitions stockpiles.
In a statement confirming the news, White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly told Politico the decision “was made to put America’s interests first following a DOD review of our nation’s military support and assistance to other countries across the globe.“
“The strength of the United States Armed Forces remains unquestioned — just ask Iran,” Kelly added.
Russia has drastically increased its aerial attacks on Ukraine, battering the country with an ever-increasing number of missile and drone attacks. June saw 5,337 exploding Shahed drones unleashed upon Ukraine, smashing the previous record of 4,198 in March, according to the Ukrainian Air Force and Dragon Capital.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has welcomed the suspension of arms shipments to Ukraine, stating on Wednesday that “the less weapons are supplied to Ukraine the closer the end of the special military operation,” using Russian President Vladimir Putin’s euphemism for his war on Ukraine.
President Trump has yet to approve any additional arms packages to Ukraine since his inauguration in January, with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth indicating in June that the U.S. plans to scale down its funding allocation to Kyiv during the next spending review.
Nevertheless, Trump indicated at a NATO summit last month that he would “see” if the U.S. could supply Ukraine with additional munitions for its Patriot missile defense systems.
“They do want to have the anti-missiles, as they call them, the Patriots, and we’re going to see if we can make some available,” Trump said following a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“They are very hard to get. We need them too,” he added. “We are supplying them for Israel, and they are very effective.
According to Politico, plans to redirect shipments back towards Israel or the U.S. homeland have been in place since at least March, as the Trump administration has repeatedly stated it wants to bring an end to the conflict by negotiating a peace treaty, which critics claim is overly favorable to Russia.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement following the news that “any delay or slowing down in supporting Ukraine’s defense capabilities would only encourage the aggressor to continue war and terror, rather than seek peace.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the Department of Defense for further comment.
