London – The White House confirmed on Tuesday that the administration of President Donald Trump froze the sending of some guided air defense and precision weapons that were on their way to being sent to Ukraine.
The authorities said the decision followed an evaluation of US reserves.
“This decision was made to put the interests of the United States first after a review of the Department of Military Support and Military Assistance to other countries around the world,” said White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly.
“The force of the United States armed forces remains unquestionable, just ask Iran,” he added in a statement sent to journalists.
Political first reported the decision. It was not clear immediately if other arms shipments would be launched or how much it stopped.
The Ukrainian gunners prepare to shoot a M777 howguards towards the Russian troops in a position in the first line in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, on June 9, 2025.
Anatolii Stepanov/Reuters
The Pentagon refused to provide additional details about the decision.
“The United States Army has never been smarter and more capable of thanks to President Trump’s leadership and Secretary Hegseth,” said Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell in a statement.
“The members of our service are fully equipped to deter against any threat and the recent approval of the Senate of the only Big Beutify bill ensures that our weapons and defense systems are modernized to protect against the threats of the 21st century for the coming generations.”
The Pentagon Policy Chief, Elbridge Colby, provided an updated statement on Wednesday saying that the military continues to provide Trump “solid options to continue military aid to Ukraine, according to their goal of ending this tragic war.”
Mykhailo Podolyak, one of the main advisors of the presidential office of Ukraine, denied that the United States ends its supply of air defenses to Ukraine. Speaking on Ukrainian television on Wednesday, Podolyak said the negotiations are ongoing how to provide them, including the possible purchases of kyiv.
“The United States will not abandon its support for Ukraine to protect civilians from Russian attacks,” Podolyak said. “There are enough antimile and missile systems for them in US stores.”
“The negotiations about their supply to Ukraine, even on a commercial basis, are ongoing,” said Podolyak.
The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine also commented on the reports, saying that in a telegram publication “it has not received any official notification about the suspension or review of the delivery schedules for the agreed defense assistance.” The Ministry said he requested a phone call with his American counterparts “to further clarify the details.”
“For Ukraine, it is vitally important to maintain resilience, continuity and predictability in the provision of agreed defense assistance, especially to strengthen our air defense systems,” said the ministry.
“We thank the United States for all their support and we value the efforts of our US partners aimed at achieving a genuine peace. We emphasize that the way to end war is found through consistent and collective pressure on the aggressor, as well as through the continuous support of Ukraine.”
Oleksandr Merezhko, a member of the Ukrainian Parliament that represents the party of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the president of the Body Foreign Affairs Committee, told ABC News that the reports are “worrying, of course, but I hope it is some kind of technical delay.”
“If not, then it could have a negative impact on our defense capabilities, especially when it comes to air defense,” Merezhko added. Any track of a delay in aid, warned the legislator, “emboldened” to Russian President Vladimir Putin “to intensify the bombings.”
The Ukrainian military goes through a patriotic air defense system in a place not revealed in Ukraine on August 4, 2024.
Sergei Supinsky/AFP through Getty Images
Military shipping was frozen only one week after Trump pointed out its opening to selling patriot missiles to Ukraine.
After meeting with Zelenskyy at the NATO Summit in the Netherlands, Trump said: “Quern the antimile and missile missiles,” Trump said about Ukraine. “As the Patriots call them, and let’s see if we can put some available.”
“You know, they are very difficult to get. We also need them. We were supplying them to Israel, and they are very effective, 100% effective. Difficult to believe how effective,” Trump said.
“As for money, we will see what happens. There is a lot of spirit,” Trump added.
The patriot system is especially valuable for Ukraine, after being used to lower Russian ballistic missiles, drones and airplanes since it arrived in the country in the spring of 2023.
Russia is intensifying its almost nocturnal drones and missile attacks against cities and objectives throughout Ukraine.
June saw Moscow establish a new monthly record for the number of long -range drones and missiles launched to Ukraine, 5,438 drones and 239 missiles, according to figures published by the Ukraine Air Force.
The United States remained the only more generous help taxpayer for Ukraine from April 2025, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, a German headquarters in Germany that tracks the support of foreign governments towards Ukraine.
The United States has contributed around $ 130 billion in total aid to Ukraine since 2022, of which $ 74 billion are military assistance. Combined, the nations of the European Union have contributed more in general, $ 157 billion, but less than the US on the military front, with a little less than $ 73 billion.
The Ukraine budget for military and security spending approved by legislators at the end of 2024 was around $ 53.7 billion.
Trump has repeatedly raised the possibility of reducing or finishing US military support for Kyiv, both in the campaign and in office in January. A nine -month pause in American aid in 2024, due to a blocked congress in Rumba, forced kyiv to consider a future without US assistance.
Those fears materialized in March 2025 when Trump imposed a freezing of one week in all US military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine. The flow soon resumed, but Trump’s frustration has only deepened as the peace conversations negotiated in the United States staggered.
The Administration approved a sale of military aid from $ 50 million to Ukraine in April, but only after Kyiv signed a controversial mineral exchange agreement.
The White House has not yet used about $ 3.9 billion destined to finance military aid to Ukraine, which will be extracted from existing US actions, which means that it can be delivered quickly, that former President Joe Biden could not spend before the end of his mandate.
Zelenskyy said earlier this year that American help represents 30% of the Ukrainian weapons. Although other estimates reach 20%, Washington remains a key benefactor, particularly for advanced weapons systems for which Ukraine has no analogues produced in the country or Europe.
-ABC News’ Anne Flaherty, Kelsey Walsh, Molly Nagle, Patrick Reevelll and Ellie Kaufman contributed to this report.
