Reuters: US resumes arms supplies to Ukraine

4 February 11:56

The supply of US weapons to Ukraine was briefly suspended in recent days and then resumed over the weekend. Reuters reported this, citing four people briefed on the matter, Komersant ukrainskyi reports.

According to two of the sources, the supplies resumed after the White House abandoned its initial assessment that it would cut off all aid to Ukraine.

According to one of the US officials cited by Reuters, there are factions within the new US administration that differ on the extent to which the United States should continue to help Kyiv with weapons from US stockpiles.

There is a view that stopping the flow of American weapons would put official Kyiv in a less favorable position during peace talks.

Since Donald Trump took office, no announcements have been made about the delivery of US weapons, but it was believed that the deliveries authorized by Joe Biden would continue to arrive in the coming months due to a backlog in schedules.

As you know, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy denied that the United States had stopped providing military assistance to Kyiv. He said this during a press conference with Moldovan President Maia Sandu on January 25.

“I know that there are some restrictions on 90 days of humanitarian programs. I know there are a lot of institutions in the world that were supported by the US government. I can only say what Ukraine may not receive. I am focused on military aid, and it is not stopped, thank God,” the president said at the time.

This statement was made against the backdrop of press reports about the possibility of the United States stopping military aid to Ukraine. For example, this assumption was made by Politico. Reporting on the suspension of funding for 90 days for most foreign grants, the publication wrote that “the order, which shocked State Department officials, appears to be about funding military aid to Ukraine.”

Instead, Voice of America correspondent Ostap Yarysh, citing a Pentagon source , explained that it was the FMF (foreign military financing) program, for which the US Congress allocated $1.6 billion last year, and that the funds were exhausted in May, but that the other two military support programs were not affected by the pause.

Василевич Сергій
Editor