Elbridge Colby, Defense Department under secretary for policy, said in a separate statement Tuesday night in response to the move that the “Department of Defense continues to provide the resident with robust options to continue military aid to Ukraine, consistent with his goal of bringing this tragic war to an end. At the same time, the department is rigorously examining and adapting its approach to achieving this objective while also preserving U.S. forces’ readiness for administration defense priorities.”<\/p>\n
A White House official said Wednesday the pause in shipments to Ukraine is part of a larger review that the Pentagon has been conducting of weapons shipments to all countries that receive them from the U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth began this review weeks ago at the direction of President Trump. The official said the review was undertaken to ensure the Pentagon under the previous administration was “prioritizing America’s needs.”<\/p>\n
Although the Ukraine pause is what leaked to the media, the White House official said some other countries have been “reclassified” as well, meaning, they have been de-prioritized for receiving weapons and munitions from the U.S. The White House official did not name those countries, or say\u00a0 how long the pause in some weapons shipments to Ukraine may last.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The U.S. has provided Ukraine with tens of billions of dollars in military aid since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. <\/p>\n
![\"Fiber-optic](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/gettyimages-2222132014.jpg#.jpeg\")
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Soldiers from a fiber-optic drone unit of the 93rd Brigade test the drones before going to the front lines in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, on June 17, 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jose Colon\/Anadolu via Getty Images<\/p>\n
In early March, following a confrontational Oval Office meeting<\/a> between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the White House announced it was pausing military aid<\/a> to Ukraine that had already been earmarked by the Biden administration. It also said it was pausing intelligence sharing<\/a> to Ukraine. \u00a0<\/p>\n The pause on both fronts was lifted about a week later when Ukraine responded positively<\/a> to talks over a potential ceasefire, which never materialized at the time. <\/p>\n Then, in late April, the U.S. and Ukraine reached a deal<\/a> that would give the U.S. access to Ukraine’s mineral reserves. As part of the tenets of the deal, according to Ukrainian officials, the U.S. would contribute in the form of military assistance to a joint U.S.-Ukraine fund. <\/p>\n Malcolm Chalmers, deputy director-general of the Royal United Services Institute military think tank, told CBS News in March that about 20% of Ukraine’s military hardware is supplied by the U.S., with 25% provided by Europe and the rest of the world, and 55% produced in Ukraine. \u00a0<\/p>\n Nancy Cordes<\/a> and <\/p>\n Kristin Brown<\/p>\n contributed to this report.\n <\/p>\n