America’s ominous new halt on weapons to Ukraine

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There could scarcely be a worse time for America to halt the delivery of precious air-defence equipment. Yet Ukrainian officials say that on the night of June 30th-July 1st the Pentagon turned back cargo planes delivering supplies of air-defence interceptors and other arms to European bases, from where they would be taken overland to Ukraine, ‘The Economist’ notes.

Precisely which weapons have been halted, for how long and why remains murky. The Pentagon gave no details. But several reports said they included Patriot air-defence interceptors. The Wall Street Journal added that they included Stinger surface-to-air missiles, air-to-air missiles, Hellfire air-to-ground missiles, surface-to-surface rockets and artillery rounds.

The Pentagon said the pause was intended to enable a general review of weapons deliveries to promote an end to the war in Ukraine “while also preserving us military readiness and defense priorities.” Sean Parnell, the Pentagon spokesman, added: “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.” Officials said the review was global, and any pause could ultimately be reversed. Ukrainian officials say that, in fact, all shipments of American weapons, including shells and spare parts, have been halted, a contention that American officials deny.

The Pentagon presents the interruption as a limited and temporary action. But Ukrainian officials suspect a more concerted effort by the Trump administration to squeeze political concessions out of Ukraine, as it did in early March when it briefly stopped arms deliveries and intelligence co-operation after an infamous televised bust-up between Donald Trump and Ukraine’s, Zelensky.

Whatever the precise situation, it seems clear that American support for Ukraine is ebbing. Mr Trump has not made any new commitments of weapons to help it since his return to office in January (tens of billions of dollars authorised by Congress last year remain uncommitted). Nor has the Republican-dominated Congress allocated new funds. There is no money for Ukraine in the “big beautiful bill” making its way through Congress. Officials said the already small amounts for Ukraine in the regular Pentagon budget would be cut further under the budget request for fiscal year 2026, though they gave no details. The administration is allowing the supplemental funds approved by Congress last year, and the pipeline of arms pumped up at the end of Joe Biden’s term, to drain away without replenishment.

European countries already provide more weapons to Ukraine than America does and, as they raise defence spending, have promised to help make up the shortfall as America withdraws support. But they, too, are woefully short of air-defence weapons and the Patriot system has proven itself particularly effective against ballistic and other missiles.

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