After two years of shipping weapons to Ukraine like it was Amazon Prime with a grudge, the US has decided to hit the pause button. Officially, it’s a matter of “putting America’s interests first.” Unofficially, it’s because the Pentagon opened the cupboard and found it emptier than a diplomat’s promise.
The decision follows a Defense Department review of how much military kit the US has left, how much it can spare, and how much it might actually need for its own wars—current, future, or just the ones floating around in the group chat.
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly confirmed the pause on Tuesday, carefully avoiding any specifics about which weapons are being withheld. But, according to leaks that didn’t quite leak but somehow still ended up in Reuters, air defense missiles and precision munitions are on the naughty step.
The Ukrainian government, perhaps too busy counting drones overhead, hasn’t commented yet.
Elbridge Colby, a man with a job title longer than most ceasefires, said the Pentagon is still providing the President with “robust options” for Ukraine. How robust these options remain without missiles or munitions was left to the imagination.
Meanwhile, the White House was keen to remind everyone that the US military remains terrifyingly well-armed. “The strength of the United States Armed Forces remains unquestioned – just ask Iran,” Kelly quipped, helpfully steering the conversation onto a different war for variety’s sake.
The timing is awkward. Only last week, President Trump was seen making nice with President Zelensky at the NATO summit, describing the meeting as “lovely” and “cordial,” despite their recent Oval Office shouting match that briefly made international diplomacy look like a daytime talk show.
That earlier row had already led to a brief freeze in both weapons and intelligence sharing—both of which were only recently unfrozen, in what some in Washington now refer to as the “on again, off again” phase of US-Ukraine relations.
To sweeten the mood back in April, the two countries signed a deal allowing the US first dibs on Ukraine’s mineral resources—because nothing says “special relationship” like access rights to your mate’s raw materials.
Over in France, President Macron broke his two-and-a-half-year vow of phone silence and rang Vladimir Putin for a long chat. Macron suggested a ceasefire. Putin suggested it was all the West’s fault. Somewhere, a Kremlin speechwriter probably earned a bonus.
All this as Russia continues what military analysts might call “really going for it.” Over the weekend, Moscow launched over 500 drones, missiles and general airborne grievances at Ukraine in one of its largest assaults since the war began.
For now, Kyiv faces the uncomfortable prospect of fighting with whatever it’s got left—while Washington decides whether “robust options” include sending more weapons… or just more strongly worded statements.
About The Author
