US weapons shipments to Ukraine were briefly paused by the Trump administration but resumed over the weekend, Reuters reported on Monday, citing people briefed on the matter.
It was unclear if the Trump administration’s pause on foreign aid included weapons shipments to Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that US military aid wasn’t impacted, but the Reuters report said there was a hold on all assistance for Ukraine, which has been rescinded by the White House.
So far, the Trump administration has not approved any new weapons packages for Ukraine, but President Biden Signed off on billions in arms shipments to fuel the proxy war during his final months in power.
All of the shipments approved by Biden will take years to deliver since much is under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, a program that allows the Pentagon to purchase weapons for Ukraine, which involves a contracting period and potentially the manufacturing of the arms.
The other shipments Biden signed off on is in the form of the Presidential Drawdown Authority, which authorizes the president to ship weapons directly from US military stockpiles.
According to the Reuters report, there are factions of the Trump administration at odds over how much support the US should continue to give Ukraine. The administration has said its official policy is to end the war, but it remains unclear how that will happen.
President Trump has said there have been talks between the US and Russia, but it’s unclear at what level the discussions are taking place. The Kremlin said on Monday that there’s been no effort to set up a meeting or a call between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
