Kateryna Chornovol00:13, 04.03.25

The halt in funding for new arms purchases began even before the much-publicized meeting between Trump and Zelensky.

The administration of US President Donald Trump has stopped funding new purchases of  military aid  for Ukraine and is also considering freezing arms supplies from American stockpiles.

The Wall Street Journal reports on this . The publication’s sources say that such steps put Ukraine’s ability to fight at risk. Although US Secretary of State Marco Rubio previously signed an exemption for Ukraine from the ban that Trump imposed on foreign aid, senior State Department official Peter Marocco did not send a corresponding letter to the Pentagon.

Sources say the move effectively halted new arms deals to Ukraine through the U.S. Foreign Military Programs Financing System, which is run by the U.S. State Department and is used to pay for weapons for some countries.

The publication notes that the halt in funding for new arms sales began even before the much-publicized meeting between Trump and Zelensky in Washington on February 28.

The journalists’ interlocutors emphasize that without new U.S. military aid, Ukraine likely has enough weapons to continue fighting Russia at its current pace until the middle of this year.

This was partly facilitated by the aid packages approved by the Biden administration in its final days in office.

Without American aid, Ukraine will lose access to some advanced weapons, including air defense systems, surface-to-surface ballistic missiles, navigation systems, and long-range rocket artillery. In particular, this will affect Ukraine’s ability to strike at long range and defend rear positions.

(c)UNIAN 2025