US halts key weapons for Ukraine in new sign of weakening support for Kyiv

Air-defence interceptors and weapons such as Hellfire missiles were in Poland when Washington halted their delivery to Ukraine.

Hellfire missiles were among the weapons that were halted on their way to Ukraine.

The US has stopped the delivery of air-defence interceptors and other weapons intended for Ukraine and is using them instead to beef up Pentagon stocks, a Trump administration official and two congressional aides said Tuesday.

The US move to withhold arms deliveries earmarked for Ukraine reflects the Trump administration’s slackening commitment to aiding Kyiv in its defence against Russia. Administration officials have stressed the need to focus more on the longer-term threats from China and, more immediately, military needs in the Middle East.

Anna Kelly, a White House spokeswoman, said “this decision was made to put America’s interests first” following a Pentagon review of U.S. military assistance.

The shipments were in Poland when they were being halted and included Patriot air-defence interceptors, air-to-air missiles, Hellfire air-to-ground missiles and surface-to-surface rockets, artillery rounds, and Stinger surface-to-air missiles.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky listening to the US delegation while at the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Picture; AFP.

Elbridge Colby, the undersecretary of defence for policy at the Pentagon, didn’t address the decision to halt weapons shipments to Ukraine, but said the Defense Department would provide President Trump with options to continue military aid to Ukraine that are “consistent with his goal of bringing this tragic war to an end.”

“The department is rigorously examining and adapting its approach to achieving this objective while also preserving U.S. forces’ readiness for administration defence priorities,” he said.

The White House move puzzled some analysts, who noted that Trump had said at the NATO summit last week that he would consider selling Patriot air-defence weapons to Kyiv.

“They do want to have the antimissile missiles, as they call the Patriots, and we’re going to see if we can make some available,” Trump said in response to a question from a Ukrainian reporter. “They are very hard to get.”

Ukraine’s political and military leadership have lauded the Patriot system for its ability to counter the threat from Russian ballistic missiles and are appealing for more of the interceptors.

This is the second time that the Trump administration has redirected weapons intended for Ukraine to US forces.

The Wall Street Journal reported last month that the Pentagon had quietly notified the Congress that special fuses for rockets that Ukraine uses to shoot down Russian drones were being allocated to U.S. Air Force units in the Middle East.

Congress has appropriated funds for that system so they could be provided to Ukraine. But the Pentagon said it has the authority to keep them for its own use under a provision of an emergency military spending bill passed last year.

A key artillery shell in Ukraine's fight against Russia, the 155 mm howitzer shell, in production at the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Picture; AP.

The delay in the new shipments, earlier reported by Politico, comes as Moscow has kept up its punishing air attacks against Ukraine.

In recent weeks, Trump has called for Russia to rejoin the G-7 and pushed against a congressional measure that would impose sanctions and tariffs on Moscow and its supporters for not ending the war.

However, Trump last week during the NATO press conference said Russian President Vladimir Putin was the “more difficult” partner in reaching a peace deal after previously blaming Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for the continuing conflict.

The Trump administration inherited the authority to send Ukraine as much as $3.85 billion in weapons from the Pentagon’s stocks but has held back from doing so. It also hasn’t asked Congress for more funding for a separate program, called the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, under which money is appropriated so Kyiv can buy weapons from U.S. defence contractors.

Democratic lawmakers blasted the decision to halt the shipments. “The Pentagon is significantly weakening Ukraine’s defence against aerial attacks even as Russia pounds Ukrainian cities night after night, with numerous civilians dead and wounded,” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D., N.H.), the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The move has also fuelled the broader debate over U.S. policy toward Kyiv. “The Ukrainians are defending themselves, the rest of Europe and U.S. security interests from an aggressive Russia,” said William Taylor, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. “Denying them Patriot missiles will cost civilian and military lives.” Dan Caldwell, a former Pentagon official under Trump who is sceptical of continued support for Ukraine, praised the decision to halt the shipments.

“President Trump and Secretary Hegseth are making the right decision to prioritise to our own readiness and force protection over supplying Ukraine in a war where there are no vital American interests at stake,” he said.

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