US President Donald Trump on Tuesday promised to send more weapons to Ukraine days after White House’s announcement that deliveries of key military hardware would be halted on the ground that Pentagon was running low on stocks.
Speaking to reporters on July 8 evening, Trump said Ukraine was “getting hit very, very hard” and had to be able to defend itself. “We’re going to have to send more weapons, defensive weapons primarily,” Trump said during the meeting with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu. Later that day, Pentagon confirmed that more weapons would be sent to Ukraine. Pentagon Spokesperson Sean Parnell confirmed resumption of weapons deliveries to Ukraine, stating that “the Department of Defence is sending additional defensive weapons to Ukraine to ensure the Ukrainians can defend themselves while we work to secure a lasting peace and ensure the killing stops.”
The U-turn in Trump’s decision comes after Pentagon announced last week that it suspended deliveries of military hardware, including precision-guided artillery and defence systems after reviewing its stockpiles. The decision was reportedly taken by defence secretary Pete Hegseth. Later on Friday, Trump told Ukrainian President Voldoymyr Zelenskiy in a phone call that he was not responsible for suspension of weapons deliveries to Ukraine.
Donald Trump has long been skeptical of sending weapons to Ukraine and was accused of shifting Washington’s policies over Ukraine-Russian war since his inauguration in January. By contrast, former President Joe Biden had pledged $65 billion in military aid to Ukraine. Trump’s apparent U-turn in policies towards Ukraine also comes amid his mounting frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin who has been unwilling to accept the US-proposed peace deal to end the war. In a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Trump spoke about the stalemate in peace talks. “We get a lot of bullshit thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth. He’s very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless," Trump told reporters. His comments echoed his earlier remarks on Monday when Trump expressed disappointment and unhappiness with Putin’s actions with whom he had talked on July 3.
