President Trump said on Tuesday that he would be sending more weapons to Ukraine after his administration paused the shipment of certain munitions, including Patriot air defense missiles.
When asked if he would send more arms to Ukraine, the president said, “We have to. They have to be able to defend themselves. They’re getting hit very hard now. We’re going to send some more weapons — defensive weapons primarily.”
Following the president’s comments, the Pentagon released a statement affirming that US “defensive” weapons were on the way to Ukraine.
“At President Trump’s direction, the Department of Defense is sending additional defensive weapons to Ukraine to ensure the Ukrainians can defend themselves while we work to secure a lasting peace and ensure the killing stops,” said Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell.
“Our framework for POTUS to evaluate military shipments across the globe remains in effect and is integral to our America First defense priorities,” Parnell added.
While the administration never specified which weapons shipments were paused, media reports said it applied to Patriots, GMLRS munitions for the HIMARS rocket systems, artillery shells, and Stinger anti-aircraft missiles. It’s unclear at this point if the US is resuming the shipment of all the weapons or just the ones considered “defensive.”
According to a report from Axios, Trump decided to resume the weapons shipments after speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. During the call, Trump promised to immediately send 10 Patriot interceptors. He is also asking Germany to send its own Patriot battery to Ukraine.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump told Zelensky in the call that he wasn’t responsible for the weapons pause and that he ordered only a review of US stockpiles after the US bombed Iranian nuclear facilities. The US used a significant number of Patriot missiles to repel Iran’s retaliatory attack, which targeted the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
The pause in certain munitions to Ukraine was reportedly done under the direction of Elbridge Colby, the Pentagon’s policy chief, who is a China hawk and wants the US to focus on preparing for a war over Taiwan.
