Sofia Davydenko21:11, 07.06.26

Zelenskyy said that Kyiv had already allowed the US to test and train on its drones, but the main document had not been signed.

The Trump administration has been delaying the signing of a large-scale drone deal with Ukraine for months, even though it is the American military that is lagging behind in this area and is trying to catch up, The Hill writes.

Last Sunday, Zelensky wrote in X that Kyiv is ready for a “bilateral drone agreement – a major framework document” between the US and Ukraine, which has made an incredible leap in the field of drone weapons since 2022.

Despite high-ranking Pentagon officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, publicly praising Ukraine’s drone capabilities, Washington has been slow to take advantage of them. As the article says, this is puzzling to experts.

“I don’t see what’s stopping us from taking advantage of this. I don’t think there’s any good reason,” said Rebecca Heinrichs, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute think tank.

Michael O’Hanlon of the Brookings Institution admitted that his situation was simply “puzzling,” since the US had already sent its own teams to Ukraine to learn on the ground.

“Perhaps there is some procedural problem – or internal White House politics are playing a role, given that Trump remains unpredictable in his commitment to the Ukrainian cause,” he said.

A former U.S. official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity, was more blunt. He blamed the delay on the Trump administration’s “lethargy” and “a certain amount of hostility toward Ukraine coming from the top.”

(C)UNIAN 2026