Trump says US has given Ukraine too many weapons in first public comments on pause in shipments
CHRIS MEGERIAN
Thu, July 3, 2025
President Donald Trump talks to reporters before boarding Air Force One, Thursday, July 3, 2025, at Joint Base Andrews, Md. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump complained Thursday that the United States provided too many weapons to Ukraine under the previous administration, his first public comments on the pause in some shipments as Russia escalates its latest offensive.
Speaking to reporters before boarding Air Force One for a flight to Iowa, Trump said former President Joe Biden “emptied out our whole country giving them weapons, and we have to make sure that we have enough for ourselves.”
Air defense missiles, precision-guided artillery and other weapons are among those being withheld from Ukraine. The country suffered a new barrage overnight, with warnings of ballistic missiles followed by explosions in Kyiv. The sound of machine gun fire and drone engines could be heard across the capital.
Trump, who also spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, suggested he wasn't completely cutting off American assistance to Ukraine.
“We've given so many weapons,” he said, adding that "we are working with them and trying to help them.”
Trump said he had a “pretty long call” with Putin that “didn't make any progress” in resolving the war, which the Republican president had promised to swiftly bring to a conclusion.
“I’m not happy about that," he said.
The Kremlin described the conversation as “frank and constructive” — the sixth publicly disclosed chat between the two leaders since Trump returned to the White House.
While discussing the situation around Iran and in the broader Middle East, Putin emphasized the need to resolve all differences “exclusively by political and diplomatic means,” said Yuri Ushakov, his foreign affairs adviser.
The leaders agreed that Russian and U.S. officials will maintain contact on the issue, he added.
The United States struck three sites in Iran on June 22, inserting itself into Israel’s war aimed at destroying Tehran's nuclear program.
On the conflict in Ukraine, Ushakov said Trump emphasized his push for a quick halt to the fighting, and Putin voiced Moscow’s readiness to pursue talks with Kyiv, noting the previous rounds in Turkey yielded humanitarian results.
At the same time, the Russian leader emphasized that Moscow will seek to achieve its goals in Ukraine and remove the “root causes” of the conflict, Ushakov said.
“Russia will not back down from these goals,” Ushakov told reporters after the call.
Putin has argued he sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022 to fend off a threat to Russia posed by Ukraine's push to join NATO and to protect Russian speakers in Ukraine — arguments rejected by Kyiv and its allies. He insisted that any prospective peace deal must see Ukraine abandon its NATO bid and recognize Russia's territorial gains.
Ushakov said a suspension of some U.S. weapons shipments to Ukraine wasn’t discussed in the Trump-Putin call.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in Denmark after meeting with major European Union backers that he may talk to Trump in the coming days about the suspension.
“I hope that maybe tomorrow, or close days, these days, I will speak about it with President Trump,” he said.
The previous publicly known call between Trump and Putin came June 14, a day after Israel attacked Iran.
The resumed contact between Trump and Putin appeared to reflect their interest in mending U.S.-Russian ties that have plummeted to their lowest point since the Cold War.
Ushakov said the leaders discussed developments in Syria and expressed interest in pursuing bilateral projects in the energy sector and space exploration, during what he described as “frank, businesslike and concrete conversation."
The Kremlin adviser added that Putin even suggested that the U.S. and Russia could exchange movies promoting “traditional values shared by us and the Trump administration.”
On Tuesday, Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron held their first direct telephone call in almost three years.
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CHRIS MEGERIAN
Thu, July 3, 2025
President Donald Trump talks to reporters before boarding Air Force One, Thursday, July 3, 2025, at Joint Base Andrews, Md. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump complained Thursday that the United States provided too many weapons to Ukraine under the previous administration, his first public comments on the pause in some shipments as Russia escalates its latest offensive.
Speaking to reporters before boarding Air Force One for a flight to Iowa, Trump said former President Joe Biden “emptied out our whole country giving them weapons, and we have to make sure that we have enough for ourselves.”
Air defense missiles, precision-guided artillery and other weapons are among those being withheld from Ukraine. The country suffered a new barrage overnight, with warnings of ballistic missiles followed by explosions in Kyiv. The sound of machine gun fire and drone engines could be heard across the capital.
Trump, who also spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, suggested he wasn't completely cutting off American assistance to Ukraine.
“We've given so many weapons,” he said, adding that "we are working with them and trying to help them.”
Trump said he had a “pretty long call” with Putin that “didn't make any progress” in resolving the war, which the Republican president had promised to swiftly bring to a conclusion.
“I’m not happy about that," he said.
The Kremlin described the conversation as “frank and constructive” — the sixth publicly disclosed chat between the two leaders since Trump returned to the White House.
While discussing the situation around Iran and in the broader Middle East, Putin emphasized the need to resolve all differences “exclusively by political and diplomatic means,” said Yuri Ushakov, his foreign affairs adviser.
The leaders agreed that Russian and U.S. officials will maintain contact on the issue, he added.
The United States struck three sites in Iran on June 22, inserting itself into Israel’s war aimed at destroying Tehran's nuclear program.
On the conflict in Ukraine, Ushakov said Trump emphasized his push for a quick halt to the fighting, and Putin voiced Moscow’s readiness to pursue talks with Kyiv, noting the previous rounds in Turkey yielded humanitarian results.
At the same time, the Russian leader emphasized that Moscow will seek to achieve its goals in Ukraine and remove the “root causes” of the conflict, Ushakov said.
“Russia will not back down from these goals,” Ushakov told reporters after the call.
Putin has argued he sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022 to fend off a threat to Russia posed by Ukraine's push to join NATO and to protect Russian speakers in Ukraine — arguments rejected by Kyiv and its allies. He insisted that any prospective peace deal must see Ukraine abandon its NATO bid and recognize Russia's territorial gains.
Ushakov said a suspension of some U.S. weapons shipments to Ukraine wasn’t discussed in the Trump-Putin call.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in Denmark after meeting with major European Union backers that he may talk to Trump in the coming days about the suspension.
“I hope that maybe tomorrow, or close days, these days, I will speak about it with President Trump,” he said.
The previous publicly known call between Trump and Putin came June 14, a day after Israel attacked Iran.
The resumed contact between Trump and Putin appeared to reflect their interest in mending U.S.-Russian ties that have plummeted to their lowest point since the Cold War.
Ushakov said the leaders discussed developments in Syria and expressed interest in pursuing bilateral projects in the energy sector and space exploration, during what he described as “frank, businesslike and concrete conversation."
The Kremlin adviser added that Putin even suggested that the U.S. and Russia could exchange movies promoting “traditional values shared by us and the Trump administration.”
On Tuesday, Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron held their first direct telephone call in almost three years.
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Gordon Lubold
Fri, July 4, 2025 a
The Defense Department held up a shipment of U.S. weapons for Ukraine this week over what officials said were concerns about its low stockpiles. But an analysis by senior military officers found that the aid package would not jeopardize the American military’s own ammunition supplies, according to three U.S. officials.
The move to halt the weapons shipment blindsided the State Department, members of Congress, officials in Kyiv and European allies, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the matter.
Critics of the decision included Republicans and Democrats who support aiding Ukraine’s fight against Russia. A leading House Democrat, Adam Smith of Washington, said it was disingenuous of the Pentagon to use military readiness to justify halting aid when the real reason appears to be simply to pursue an agenda of cutting off American aid to Ukraine.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth following a bilateral meeting with Netherlands' prime minister on the sidelines of the NATO summit in The Hague on June 25, 2025. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP - Getty Images)More
“We are not at any lower point, stockpile-wise, than we’ve been in the 3½ years of the Ukraine conflict,” Smith, the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, told NBC News
Smith said that his staff has “seen the numbers” and, without going into detail, that there was no indication of a shortage that would justify suspending aid to Ukraine.
Suspending the shipment of military aid to Ukraine was a unilateral step by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, according to three congressional aides and a former U.S. official familiar with the matter. It was the third time Hegseth on his own has stopped shipments of aid to Ukraine, the sources said. In the two previous cases, in February and in May, his actions were reversed days later.
A senior Pentagon official, Elbridge Colby, the undersecretary of defense for policy, has backed the moves, the sources said. Colby has long advocated scaling back the U.S. commitment in Ukraine and shifting weapons and resources to the Pacific region to counter China.
Lawmakers from both parties were frustrated that they were not notified in advance and were examining whether the delayed shipment violated legislation mandating security assistance for Ukraine, according to congressional aides. Those lawmakers and some European allies were trying to determine just why the Pentagon ordered the suspension and were scrambling to get it reversed
The White House has defended the decision, saying it followed an ongoing review by the Defense Department of U.S. assistance to allies and partners abroad that began last month.
The review began after Hegseth issued a memo ordering the Pentagon’s Joint Staff to review stockpiles of all munitions. According to three officials familiar with the matter, the assessment found that some stockpiles of high-precision munitions were at lower levels but not yet beyond critical minimums.
The Joint Staff concluded that providing continued assistance to Ukraine would not drain U.S. supplies below a required threshold needed to ensure military readiness, the officials said.
The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell called the assessment a “capability review" at a briefing Wednesday.
“We can’t give weapons to everybody all around the world,” Parnell said. “Part of our job is to give the president a framework that he can use to evaluate how many munitions we have where we’re sending them. And that review process is happening right now and is ongoing.”
Ukraine has issued urgent appeals to Washington for more air defense systems as Russia has stepped up its bombardment of Ukrainian cities. Over the weekend, Russia launched its biggest aerial attack of the three-year-old conflict, firing 60 missiles and 477 drones across the country.
The delayed shipment included dozens of Patriot interceptors, coveted weapons for Ukraine to knock out incoming missiles, as well as 155 mm artillery rounds, Hellfire missiles, precision-guided missile systems known as GMLRS, grenade launchers, Stinger surface-to-air missiles and AIM air-to-air missiles for Ukraine’s small fleet of F-16 fighter jets.
In Poland and other European countries, some of the U.S. weapons had already been loaded onto trucks, ready to be delivered to Kyiv to help its government fend off Russian missile attacks and hold the line against ground forces in the country’s east. Then, military officers and officials handling the shipment got word that the delivery had been called off, said two sources with knowledge of the matter.
The weapons shipment was approved during the Biden administration, three U.S. officials said. Some of the weapons were pulled from U.S. stockpiles, with the Pentagon receiving funds to replenish them. Other munitions fall under a program that provides money to buy new weapons for Ukraine from American defense companies, the officials said. Those weapons are not drawn from U.S. supplies.
‘Rookie mistake’
Since the United States began sending large shipments of weapons to Kyiv after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, U.S. officials and commanders have grown concerned about the state of American stockpiles of munitions and other equipment.
The aid effort has laid bare the inadequacy of the defense industrial base to replenish those weapons stocks. That has, in some cases, put the Pentagon at dangerously low levels of some munitions, including 155 mm artillery rounds, according to multiple U.S. officials and former military officers.
In a letter to President Donald Trump, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., requested an emergency briefing from the White House and the Defense Department to review the decision “to withhold urgent, lifesaving military assistance to Ukraine.”
He argued that it was possible to both maintain adequate weapons supplies for the U.S. military and send arms badly needed by Kyiv.
Dan Caldwell, a former senior Pentagon official, defended the pause by Hegseth and Colby.
"They are prioritizing the safety and readiness of our own military over pleasing the foreign policy establishment, who often seem in denial about the real constraints the United States military is facing," Caldwell said.
Hegseth has twice before suspended aid to Ukraine without apparent coordination with lawmakers on Capitol Hill or even within the administration. The first time, in February, drew a prickly response from the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Roger Wicker, R-Miss., who called the move “a rookie mistake.”
The next time was in early May, according to a Senate aide. In both cases, the suspensions of aid were reversed within days.
Rep. Michael McCaul, R- Texas, a staunch supporter of military aid to Ukraine, said it was crucial to show Russia that the United States would stand behind Ukraine.
“We can’t let Putin prevail now. President Trump knows that too and it’s why he’s been advocating for peace,” McCaul wrote on social media. “Now is the time to show Putin we mean business. And that starts with ensuring Ukraine has the weapons Congress authorized to pressure Putin to the negotiating table.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Dem Makes Bombshell Claim About Hegseth’s Excuse for Slashing Ukraine Aid
Ewan Palmer
Fri, July 4, 2025
Anadolu / Anadolu via Getty Images
A Democratic congressman has rejected the Pentagon’s claims that it halted shipments of U.S. military weapons and munitions to Ukraine over concerns about dwindling American stockpiles.
Rep. Adam Smith, the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, told NBC News the U.S. isn’t facing a worrying shortage of weapons and suggested the decision is part of a broader agenda to cut military aid to the country fighting off Russia’s invasion.
“We are not at any lower point, stockpile-wise, than we’ve been in the three and a half years of the Ukraine conflict,” Smith said. The Washington lawmaker added that his staff has “seen the numbers” of available stockpiles, and they do not justify suspending aid to Ukraine.
Rep. Adam Smith suggests the Pentagon is using U.S military readiness as an excuse to end the country's cooperation with Ukraine.
/ Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Politico originally reported that the move to pause some weapons shipments was spearheaded by Elbridge Colby, President Donald Trump’s pick to serve as undersecretary of defense for policy.
Colby has long argued that the U.S. should scale back its commitment to helping Ukraine, calling instead for America’s national security focus to shift toward China and the Indo-Pacific region.
However, the pause was actually a “unilateral step” taken by Hegseth, with Colby supporting the decision, according to NBC News, which cites multiple unnamed sources. It’s the third time Hegseth has attempted to halt military aid to Ukraine, with his previous efforts in February and May reversed days later.
Hegseth’s latest decision followed a memo he sent ordering the Pentagon’s Joint Staff to review U.S. munitions stockpiles. The review found that while some high-precision munitions are running low, levels haven’t dropped below critical minimums, sources told NBC News.
Politico originally reported that the move to pause some weapons shipments was spearheaded by Elbridge Colby, President Donald Trump’s pick to serve as undersecretary of defense for policy.
Colby has long argued that the U.S. should scale back its commitment to helping Ukraine, calling instead for America’s national security focus to shift toward China and the Indo-Pacific region.
However, the pause was actually a “unilateral step” taken by Hegseth, with Colby supporting the decision, according to NBC News, which cites multiple unnamed sources. It’s the third time Hegseth has attempted to halt military aid to Ukraine, with his previous efforts in February and May reversed days later.
Hegseth’s latest decision followed a memo he sent ordering the Pentagon’s Joint Staff to review U.S. munitions stockpiles. The review found that while some high-precision munitions are running low, levels haven’t dropped below critical minimums, sources told NBC News.
Elbridge Colby, the undersecretary of defense for policy, has Hegseth's attempts to halt military shipments to Ukraine all three times. / BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty ImagesMore
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell addressed the review during a press briefing on Wednesday. “We’re always assessing our munitions and where we’re sending them and part of what we wanted to do here at the department was, again, create a framework,” Parnell said
“We can’t give weapons to everybody all around the world. We have to look out for America and defending our homeland and our troops around the world.”
Elsewhere, Trump complained Thursday that the U.S. under President Joe Biden’s administration had given “so many weapons” away.
“And we’re working with [Ukraine] and trying to help them, but we haven’t [completely stopped],” Trump said. “You know, Biden emptied out our whole country giving them weapons, and we have to make sure that we have enough for ourselves.”
Overnight, Moscow launched the largest barrage of missiles and drones against Kyiv since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion three years ago. The attack came mere hours after Trump said he’d held a disappointing phone call with Putin about seeking an end to the conflict.
“I didn’t make any progress with him at all,” Trump told reporters on Thursday.
Russia welcomes Trump’s cut to Ukraine’s military aid but it could be deadly for Kyiv
Ivana Kottasová,
Smoke is seen above the city after a Russian drone and missile strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Friday July 4. - Alina Smutko/Reuters
The reactions to the Trump administration’s decision to pause some weapons shipments to Ukraine couldn’t be more illustrative of the conflict: welcomed by the Kremlin, branded “inhumane” by Kyiv.
The Pentagon said on Wednesday that it was pausing some aid because it needs to review whether the assistance that is provided to Ukraine is aligned with US President Donald Trump’s “America First” agenda.
But the move could have deadly consequences for Ukraine as the halt on shipments includes missiles for Patriots, the US-made air defense systems that are currently protecting millions of Ukrainian civilians from Russia’s increasingly massive daily aerial attacks.
Kyiv endured the biggest ever attack overnight into Friday, with 13 dreadful hours of explosions and buzzing overhead as Russia launched a record 539 drones towards the Ukrainian capital and 11 cruise and ballistic missiles, according to the country’s air force.
As the smoke began to clear over the city, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky praised the military for shooting down or jamming the majority of the Russian drones and missiles.
“It is critically important that our partners continue to support us in defending against ballistic missiles. Patriots and the missiles for them are true protectors of life,” he said – a remark clearly aimed at trying to persuade Trump to reconsider the pause.
Zelensky got a chance to make the case directly to Trump when the two spoke by phone on Friday. A readout of the call from Zelensky’s office said the two leaders “agreed that we will work together to strengthen protection of our skies.”
“We are ready for direct projects with the United States and believe this is critically important for security, especially when it comes to drones and related technologies,” the readout said.
No other air defense system can match the Patriots in its effectiveness – but their power comes at a huge cost, their production is limited and the demand for them is growing rapidly around the world, especially in areas deemed by the Trump administration to be more strategically important – such as the Middle East or, southwest Asia and South Korea.
A Patriot system received by Ukraine is seen on the Day of Ukrainian Air Force on August 4, 2024. - Vitalii Nosach/Global Images Ukraine/Getty Images
‘Inhumane’ decision
The announcement by the US sent shockwaves through Ukraine, with presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak saying it would be “very strange” and “inhumane” to stop supplying missiles that are used to protect civilians.
But despite the panicked reaction, the move was not entirely unexpected. Trump has threatened to withdraw Ukraine’s support in a bid to force Kyiv to the negotiating table, and he has previously briefly paused shipments of aid.
While the US was for a long time Ukraine’s biggest supporter, singlehandedly covering about 40% of Ukraine’s military needs, it has not announced any new aid to Ukraine since early January, when Trump returned to power.
Meanwhile, European countries have stepped up their support of Ukraine.
According to the German Kiel Institute, which monitors aid to Ukraine, Europe has now surpassed the US as the biggest donor – having supported Ukraine to the tune of 72 billion euro ($85 billion) in total military aid since the start of the full-scale invasion to the end of April, compared to 65 billion euro ($76.6 billion) from the US.
But the numbers don’t tell the whole story.
“Ukraine has a lot of different needs, and some of them can be filled by other suppliers, but some can only be filled by the United States,” Daniel Byman, director of the Warfare, Irregular Threats, and Terrorism Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), told CNN.
“For ballistic missiles in particular, only the US can provide this. A cut off in those leaves a huge gap in Ukraine and air defenses. And given the kind of daily and horrible Russian attacks, that’s very consequential.”
Russia has ramped up its airborne attacks against Ukraine in recent weeks.
Ballistic missiles pose the deadliest threat and, according to Ukrainian officials, Russia fired as many as 80 of these in June alone.
Rescuers work at the site of a Russian missile strike on a residential building during an attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, on June 23. - Maxym Marusenko/NurPhoto/Getty Images
While Ukraine managed to shoot some of them down, likely with the Patriot system, the ones that slipped through caused unimaginable suffering. One ballistic missile strike killed 21 people in Dnipro last week. The week before that, 21 people were killed when a ballistic missile hit an apartment building in Kyiv.
Deadly attacks like this will become more frequent if Ukraine loses access to the Patriots, which are widely considered to be among the best air defense systems available.
They are capable of bringing down cruise and hypersonic missiles, short-range ballistic missiles and aircraft. According to analysts, the Ukrainian military has been using them in an extremely effective way, shooting down missiles that Moscow claimed were impossible to intercept, such as the Kinzhal ballistic missiles.
At an estimated cost of about $1.1 billion for each system, the Patriots are by far the most expensive piece of equipment sent by allies to Ukraine. According to the CSIS, missile rounds for the Patriot come in at roughly $4 million each – an incredibly high price tag.
But even if Ukraine had the cash to purchase these systems, which it doesn’t, it would find it difficult to source them.
“The production pace of Patriot missiles is low. Not because the US doesn’t want to produce more, but because it’s very sophisticated – you can’t produce thousands a year, you can produce hundreds and you have allies all over the world who need them,” Pavel Luzin, a senior fellow at the Centre for European Policy Analysis, said Thursday during a discussion at the NEST Center, a think tank.
Lockheed Martin, which manufactures the Patriot missiles for the US Army, has been ramping up production to record levels – but even so, it is only able to make just over 500 per year, with a plan to increase production to 650 a year by 2027.
A major $5.5 billion deal between US and German companies to begin manufacturing the Patriot missiles outside of the US for the first time was approved last year following a NATO order of up to 1,000 rounds – but the first deliveries are not expected until several years from now.
President Volodymyr Zelensky finds out about the training of Ukrainian soldiers on the Patriot anti-aircraft missile system at an undisclosed location in Germany, on June 11, 2024. - Jens Buttner/Reuters
Germany, which has donated several of its Patriot systems to Ukraine in the past, is looking into the option of purchasing some missiles for Ukraine from the US, the spokesperson for the German government said in a news conference on Friday.
Sidharth Kaushal, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, a UK-based defense think tank, said that while global stockpiles of Patriot missiles are not “critically low,” there are some grounds for concern about shortages.
“The requirement for Patriots, particularly in the Indo-Pacific, is growing significantly,” he said.
He said that given that some of the missiles initially meant for Ukraine were diverted to other allies, including Israel, it was likely that the US wanted to – or even had contractual obligations to – deliver interceptors to countries who are, in some cases, located within range of Iranian missiles.
Still, Kaushal said the US itself is highly unlikely to face any kind of urgent shortage of missiles.
“While the US has sent a considerable number of Patriot interceptors to Ukraine it has replenished stocks through buy-back schemes from Japan and more recent shipments were diverted from export customers rather than the US’ own inventory,” he said in a note emailed to CNN.
Boost for Ukraine
Zelensky said previously that Ukraine would need some 25 Patriot batteries to defend its airspace effectively. It has roughly half a dozen at the moment, although the exact numbers and their locations are closely guarded secrets.
What is known, though, is that the Ukrainians are very worried about running out of the munitions – especially because the latest US pause doesn’t concern future aid but impacts deliveries that have been approved and funded and were on their way to Ukraine, where the military was counting on receiving them in the very near future.
“One thing is not having future sales approved; another is stopping what is already in the pipeline. And so that’s a very negative shift that is harmful for the future defense of Ukraine and the effect is going to be pretty quick. The Russian attacks are happening daily, and Ukraine relies on these systems to counter them,” Byman said.
The pause in shipments is likely to give yet another boost to Russia.
“It’s part of (the Russians’) strategy. They believe that without the US support, Ukraine is more likely to collapse or at least make concessions… so it certainly increases the incentives for Russia to keep military pressure on Ukraine,” Byman said.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a US-based conflict monitor, said that previous delays in deliveries of aid to Ukraine have invariably accelerated Russian gains on the battlefield.
When the US dragged its feet on military aid in late 2023 and early 2024, Russia pushed forward in Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine. When the US paused intelligence sharing with Ukraine in March, Russian forces advanced in Kursk.
“The suspension of US aid to Ukraine will reinforce Russian President Vladimir Putin’s theory of victory that posits that Russia can win the war of attrition by making slow, creeping advances and outlasting Western support for Ukraine,” the ISW said.
The pause in shipments will likely reinforce Putin’s belief that time is on Russia’s side – and that if he can delay negotiations for long enough, his troops will eventually outlast Western assistance to Ukraine.
For Ukrainians, who have sacrificed so much trying to defend their country against a bigger, stronger aggressor, the absence of US military aid is not just yet another setback – it’s potentially a disaster.
CNN’s Svitlana Vlasova, Kosta Gak and Victoria Butenko contributed reporting.
Ivana Kottasová,
CNN
Fri, July 4, 2025
Fri, July 4, 2025
Smoke is seen above the city after a Russian drone and missile strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Friday July 4. - Alina Smutko/Reuters
The reactions to the Trump administration’s decision to pause some weapons shipments to Ukraine couldn’t be more illustrative of the conflict: welcomed by the Kremlin, branded “inhumane” by Kyiv.
The Pentagon said on Wednesday that it was pausing some aid because it needs to review whether the assistance that is provided to Ukraine is aligned with US President Donald Trump’s “America First” agenda.
But the move could have deadly consequences for Ukraine as the halt on shipments includes missiles for Patriots, the US-made air defense systems that are currently protecting millions of Ukrainian civilians from Russia’s increasingly massive daily aerial attacks.
Kyiv endured the biggest ever attack overnight into Friday, with 13 dreadful hours of explosions and buzzing overhead as Russia launched a record 539 drones towards the Ukrainian capital and 11 cruise and ballistic missiles, according to the country’s air force.
As the smoke began to clear over the city, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky praised the military for shooting down or jamming the majority of the Russian drones and missiles.
“It is critically important that our partners continue to support us in defending against ballistic missiles. Patriots and the missiles for them are true protectors of life,” he said – a remark clearly aimed at trying to persuade Trump to reconsider the pause.
Zelensky got a chance to make the case directly to Trump when the two spoke by phone on Friday. A readout of the call from Zelensky’s office said the two leaders “agreed that we will work together to strengthen protection of our skies.”
“We are ready for direct projects with the United States and believe this is critically important for security, especially when it comes to drones and related technologies,” the readout said.
No other air defense system can match the Patriots in its effectiveness – but their power comes at a huge cost, their production is limited and the demand for them is growing rapidly around the world, especially in areas deemed by the Trump administration to be more strategically important – such as the Middle East or, southwest Asia and South Korea.
A Patriot system received by Ukraine is seen on the Day of Ukrainian Air Force on August 4, 2024. - Vitalii Nosach/Global Images Ukraine/Getty Images
‘Inhumane’ decision
The announcement by the US sent shockwaves through Ukraine, with presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak saying it would be “very strange” and “inhumane” to stop supplying missiles that are used to protect civilians.
But despite the panicked reaction, the move was not entirely unexpected. Trump has threatened to withdraw Ukraine’s support in a bid to force Kyiv to the negotiating table, and he has previously briefly paused shipments of aid.
While the US was for a long time Ukraine’s biggest supporter, singlehandedly covering about 40% of Ukraine’s military needs, it has not announced any new aid to Ukraine since early January, when Trump returned to power.
Meanwhile, European countries have stepped up their support of Ukraine.
According to the German Kiel Institute, which monitors aid to Ukraine, Europe has now surpassed the US as the biggest donor – having supported Ukraine to the tune of 72 billion euro ($85 billion) in total military aid since the start of the full-scale invasion to the end of April, compared to 65 billion euro ($76.6 billion) from the US.
But the numbers don’t tell the whole story.
“Ukraine has a lot of different needs, and some of them can be filled by other suppliers, but some can only be filled by the United States,” Daniel Byman, director of the Warfare, Irregular Threats, and Terrorism Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), told CNN.
“For ballistic missiles in particular, only the US can provide this. A cut off in those leaves a huge gap in Ukraine and air defenses. And given the kind of daily and horrible Russian attacks, that’s very consequential.”
Russia has ramped up its airborne attacks against Ukraine in recent weeks.
Ballistic missiles pose the deadliest threat and, according to Ukrainian officials, Russia fired as many as 80 of these in June alone.
Rescuers work at the site of a Russian missile strike on a residential building during an attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, on June 23. - Maxym Marusenko/NurPhoto/Getty Images
While Ukraine managed to shoot some of them down, likely with the Patriot system, the ones that slipped through caused unimaginable suffering. One ballistic missile strike killed 21 people in Dnipro last week. The week before that, 21 people were killed when a ballistic missile hit an apartment building in Kyiv.
Deadly attacks like this will become more frequent if Ukraine loses access to the Patriots, which are widely considered to be among the best air defense systems available.
They are capable of bringing down cruise and hypersonic missiles, short-range ballistic missiles and aircraft. According to analysts, the Ukrainian military has been using them in an extremely effective way, shooting down missiles that Moscow claimed were impossible to intercept, such as the Kinzhal ballistic missiles.
At an estimated cost of about $1.1 billion for each system, the Patriots are by far the most expensive piece of equipment sent by allies to Ukraine. According to the CSIS, missile rounds for the Patriot come in at roughly $4 million each – an incredibly high price tag.
But even if Ukraine had the cash to purchase these systems, which it doesn’t, it would find it difficult to source them.
“The production pace of Patriot missiles is low. Not because the US doesn’t want to produce more, but because it’s very sophisticated – you can’t produce thousands a year, you can produce hundreds and you have allies all over the world who need them,” Pavel Luzin, a senior fellow at the Centre for European Policy Analysis, said Thursday during a discussion at the NEST Center, a think tank.
Lockheed Martin, which manufactures the Patriot missiles for the US Army, has been ramping up production to record levels – but even so, it is only able to make just over 500 per year, with a plan to increase production to 650 a year by 2027.
A major $5.5 billion deal between US and German companies to begin manufacturing the Patriot missiles outside of the US for the first time was approved last year following a NATO order of up to 1,000 rounds – but the first deliveries are not expected until several years from now.
President Volodymyr Zelensky finds out about the training of Ukrainian soldiers on the Patriot anti-aircraft missile system at an undisclosed location in Germany, on June 11, 2024. - Jens Buttner/Reuters
Germany, which has donated several of its Patriot systems to Ukraine in the past, is looking into the option of purchasing some missiles for Ukraine from the US, the spokesperson for the German government said in a news conference on Friday.
Sidharth Kaushal, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, a UK-based defense think tank, said that while global stockpiles of Patriot missiles are not “critically low,” there are some grounds for concern about shortages.
“The requirement for Patriots, particularly in the Indo-Pacific, is growing significantly,” he said.
He said that given that some of the missiles initially meant for Ukraine were diverted to other allies, including Israel, it was likely that the US wanted to – or even had contractual obligations to – deliver interceptors to countries who are, in some cases, located within range of Iranian missiles.
Still, Kaushal said the US itself is highly unlikely to face any kind of urgent shortage of missiles.
“While the US has sent a considerable number of Patriot interceptors to Ukraine it has replenished stocks through buy-back schemes from Japan and more recent shipments were diverted from export customers rather than the US’ own inventory,” he said in a note emailed to CNN.
Boost for Ukraine
Zelensky said previously that Ukraine would need some 25 Patriot batteries to defend its airspace effectively. It has roughly half a dozen at the moment, although the exact numbers and their locations are closely guarded secrets.
What is known, though, is that the Ukrainians are very worried about running out of the munitions – especially because the latest US pause doesn’t concern future aid but impacts deliveries that have been approved and funded and were on their way to Ukraine, where the military was counting on receiving them in the very near future.
“One thing is not having future sales approved; another is stopping what is already in the pipeline. And so that’s a very negative shift that is harmful for the future defense of Ukraine and the effect is going to be pretty quick. The Russian attacks are happening daily, and Ukraine relies on these systems to counter them,” Byman said.
The pause in shipments is likely to give yet another boost to Russia.
“It’s part of (the Russians’) strategy. They believe that without the US support, Ukraine is more likely to collapse or at least make concessions… so it certainly increases the incentives for Russia to keep military pressure on Ukraine,” Byman said.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a US-based conflict monitor, said that previous delays in deliveries of aid to Ukraine have invariably accelerated Russian gains on the battlefield.
When the US dragged its feet on military aid in late 2023 and early 2024, Russia pushed forward in Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine. When the US paused intelligence sharing with Ukraine in March, Russian forces advanced in Kursk.
“The suspension of US aid to Ukraine will reinforce Russian President Vladimir Putin’s theory of victory that posits that Russia can win the war of attrition by making slow, creeping advances and outlasting Western support for Ukraine,” the ISW said.
The pause in shipments will likely reinforce Putin’s belief that time is on Russia’s side – and that if he can delay negotiations for long enough, his troops will eventually outlast Western assistance to Ukraine.
For Ukrainians, who have sacrificed so much trying to defend their country against a bigger, stronger aggressor, the absence of US military aid is not just yet another setback – it’s potentially a disaster.
CNN’s Svitlana Vlasova, Kosta Gak and Victoria Butenko contributed reporting.
