LONDON — The White Home confirmed on Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s administration froze the cargo of some air defense and precision guided weapons that have been on observe to be despatched to Ukraine.
Officers mentioned the choice adopted an evaluation of U.S. stockpiles.
“This choice was made to place America’s pursuits first following a DOD evaluation of our nation’s navy help and help to different nations throughout the globe,” mentioned White Home spokesperson Anna Kelly.
“The energy of the USA Armed Forces stays unquestioned — simply ask Iran,” she added in an announcement despatched to reporters.
Politico first reported the choice. It was not instantly clear whether or not different shipments of weapons can be launched or how a lot was paused.
Ukrainian gunners put together to fireside a M777 howitzer towards Russian troops at a place on the entrance line in Donetsk area, Ukraine, on June 9, 2025.
Anatolii Stepanov/Reuters
The Pentagon declined to offer further particulars concerning the choice.
“America’s navy has by no means been extra prepared and extra succesful due to President Trump and Secretary Hegseth’s management,” Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell mentioned in an announcement.
“Our service members are totally geared up to discourage towards any risk and the Senate’s latest passage of the One Huge Lovely Invoice ensures that our weapons and protection programs are modernized to guard towards twenty first century threats for generations to come back.”
Pentagon coverage chief Elbridge Colby offered an up to date assertion Wednesday saying the navy is continuous to offer Trump “with sturdy choices to proceed navy help to Ukraine, constant along with his purpose of bringing this tragic warfare to an finish.”
Mykhailo Podolyak — a high adviser to Ukraine’s presidential workplace — denied that the U.S. will finish its provide air defenses to Ukraine. Talking on Ukrainian tv on Wednesday, Podolyak mentioned negotiations are ongoing on easy methods to present them, together with potential purchases by Kyiv.
“America is not going to abandon its help for Ukraine in defending civilians from Russian strikes,” Podolyak mentioned. “There are sufficient anti-missile programs and missiles for them in U.S. warehouses.”
“Negotiations on their provide to Ukraine, together with on a industrial foundation, are ongoing,” Podolyak mentioned.
Ukraine’s Protection Ministry additionally commented on the stories, saying in a publish to Telegram it “has not acquired any official notification concerning the suspension or revision of supply schedules for the agreed protection help.” The ministry mentioned it requested a cellphone name with its U.S. counterparts “to additional make clear the main points.”
“For Ukraine, it’s critically necessary to keep up resilience, continuity, and predictability within the provision of the agreed protection help — particularly in strengthening our air protection programs,” the ministry mentioned.
“We’re grateful to the USA for all its help and extremely worth the efforts of our American companions aimed toward reaching real peace. We emphasize that the trail to ending the warfare lies by constant and collective stress on the aggressor, in addition to by continued help for Ukraine.”
Oleksandr Merezhko, a member of the Ukrainian parliament representing President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s get together and the chair of the physique’s overseas affairs committee, instructed ABC Information that the stories are “regarding, in fact, however I hope that it’s some type of technical delay.”
“If not, then it may need detrimental influence on our protection capabilities — particularly on the subject of air protection,” Merezhko added. Any trace of a delay in help, the lawmaker warned, would “embolden” Russian President Vladimir Putin “to accentuate bombardments.”
Ukrainian servicemen stroll previous a Patriot air protection system at an undisclosed location in Ukraine on August 4, 2024.
Sergei Supinsky/AFP through Getty Pictures
The navy cargo was frozen comes only a week after Trump signaled his openness to promoting Patriot missiles to Ukraine.
After assembly with Zelenskyy on the NATO summit within the Netherlands, Trump mentioned, “They do wish to have the anti-missile, missiles,” Trump mentioned of Ukraine. “As they name them the Patriots, and we will see if we will make some out there.”
“, they’re very exhausting to get. We want them too. We have been supplying them to Israel, and so they’re very efficient, 100% efficient. Arduous to consider how efficient,” Trump mentioned.
“So far as cash going, we’ll see what occurs. There’s a whole lot of spirit,” Trump added.
The Patriot system is particularly useful to Ukraine, having been used to down Russian ballistic missiles, drones and plane since arriving within the nation within the spring of 2023.
Russia is intensifying its near-nightly drone and missile attacks on cities and targets all throughout Ukraine.
June noticed Moscow set a brand new month-to-month document for the variety of long-range drones and missiles launched into Ukraine — 5,438 drones and 239 missiles — in line with figures revealed by the Ukrainian air power.
The U.S. remained probably the most beneficiant single contributor of help to Ukraine as of April 2025, in line with the Kiel Institute for the World Economic system, a analysis group based mostly in Germany that tracks help from overseas governments towards Ukraine.
The U.S. has contributed round $130 billion in complete help to Ukraine since 2022, of which $74 billion is navy help. Mixed, European Union nations have contributed extra general — $157 billion — however lower than the U.S. on the navy entrance, at barely lower than $73 billion.
Ukraine’s funds for navy and safety spending authorised by lawmakers in late 2024 was round $53.7 billion.
Trump has repeatedly raised the prospect of curbing or ending U.S. navy help for Kyiv, each on the marketing campaign path and since returning to workplace in January. A nine-month pause on U.S. help in 2024, on account of a gridlocked Congress, pressured Kyiv to think about a future with out American help.
These fears materialized in March 2025 when Trump imposed a week-long freeze on all American navy help and intelligence sharing with Ukraine. The stream quickly resumed, however Trump’s frustration has solely deepened as U.S.-brokered peace talks floundered.
The administration authorised a $50 million sale of navy help to Ukraine in April, however solely after Kyiv signed off on a controversial minerals sharing deal.
The White Home can be but to make use of some $3.9 billion earmarked to fund navy help to Ukraine — to be drawn from present U.S. shares, which means it may be delivered rapidly — that former President Joe Biden was not in a position to spend earlier than the tip of his time period.
Zelenskyy mentioned early this yr that American help accounts for 30% of Ukrainian weaponry. Although different estimates go as little as 20%, Washington stays a key benefactor — notably for superior weapons programs for which Ukraine has no domestically- or European-produced analogues.
-ABC Information’ Anne Flaherty, Kelsey Walsh, Molly Nagle, Patrick Reevell and Ellie Kaufman contributed to this report.
