Washington is “trying to help” Ukraine but prioritizing American interests, the US president has said
US President Donald Trump has denied media speculation that Washington has suspended all military equipment and ammunition deliveries to Ukraine, insisting that lethal aid is still being sent while America ensures that it retains enough stockpiles to defend itself and its allies.
Several reports earlier this week indicated that the US had paused deliveries of various critical munitions to Ukraine, including Patriot and Hellfire missiles, GMLRS rockets, and thousands of 155mm artillery shells. The Economist even suggested that Washington could be gradually winding down its military support for Kiev altogether.
Trump rejected claims of a complete halt of military aid to Kiev, echoing previous statements by the Pentagon and the White House that a decision had been made to prioritize US national interests.
“We’re giving weapons, but we’ve given so many weapons,” Trump told reporters before boarding Air Force One on Thursday. “You know, Biden emptied out our whole country giving them weapons. And we have to make sure that we have enough for ourselves.”
“But we are giving weapons, and we’re working with them and trying to help them,”Trump added, without providing specifics about the weapons being withheld and those still being supplied.
Trump has been critical of providing aid to Ukraine without reciprocal benefits, and his administration has not approved any new assistance packages since he took office. According to Germany’s Kiel Institute, the US has sent nearly $115 billion in military and financial aid to Kiev since the conflict escalated in 2022, though Trump has claimed that the actual total is “hundreds of billions.”
Washington recently signed an agreement granting the US priority access to Ukraine’s mineral resources – an effort the White House said would help recoup some of the taxpayer money spent under Biden.
News of the aid suspension drew sharp reactions in Kiev, with Ukrainian officials summoning US Chargé d’Affaires John Ginkel to lecture him about “the critical importance of continuing the deliveries of previously allocated defense packages.” Ukrainian MP Mariana Bezuglaya even declared that “the US is no longer our ally,” even though the two countries never signed any deals to that effect.
Russia has condemned Western arms shipments to Ukraine, arguing that they only prolong the conflict and risk escalation. Kremlin officials have also accused Western countries of encouraging their proxies in Kiev to fight to the last Ukrainian in the hope of inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia.
“The fewer the missiles that arrive in Ukraine from abroad, the closer the end of the special military operation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday. He added, however, that the freeze could be temporary, and could be the result of weapons being redirected to support Israel in the stand-off with Iran.
President Vladimir Putin reiterated that Russia remains open to peace talks, in a phone call with Trump on Thursday. He added that Russia will not back down until the “well-known root causes” of the Ukraine conflict are eliminated, according to presidential aide Yury Ushakov.
