Photo: US President Donald Trump (Getty Images) Author: Maria Kucheryavets
US President Donald Trump has decided to “pause” the provision of American aid to Ukraine. Its exact scale is unknown, but we are talking about aid that his predecessor Joe Biden ordered to be allocated.
RBC-Ukraine wrote everything that is known about this at the moment in the article below.
Content
- What is known about the suspension of US aid to Ukraine
- What was put on “pause”
- What military aid did the US provide before the pause?
- Mixed reaction from Republicans
- How Ukraine Reacts
- The US made the decision without consulting its allies
What is known about the suspension of US aid to Ukraine
A number of leading Western media outlets reported that the administration of US President Donald Trump had suspended all military aid to Ukraine, citing a White House spokesman. At the same time, there was no official announcement of such a decision, and Trump himself did not make any statement about it.
The decision concerns ammunition, vehicles and other equipment, including supplies agreed upon during the presidency of US President Joe Biden.
“The president (Trump – ed.) has made it clear that he is focused on peace. We need our partners to be committed to that goal as well. We are pausing and reviewing our assistance to make sure it is contributing to a solution,” the official told Voice of America about aid to Ukraine.
The Republican Fox News channel also reported that the United States is pausing military aid to Ukraine “until President Trump decides that the Ukrainians are committed to good-faith peace talks.”
A senior Trump administration official clarified to Fox News that “this is not a permanent end to aid, it is a pause.” Bloomberg also wrote about the suspension of military aid to Ukraine, citing a senior official in the US Department of Defense.
The news agency reported that all US military equipment that is not in Ukraine will be detained, including weapons that are in transit on planes and ships or waiting in transit zones in Poland.
According to media reports, the American president ordered US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to implement the corresponding decision, which was made by Trump after his meeting at the White House, which was attended not only by the head of the Pentagon, but also by Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Trump's special representative to the Middle East Steve Witkoff.
“The president has made clear that he is focused on peace. We need our partners to be committed to that goal as well. We are pausing and reviewing our aid to ensure it contributes to a solution,” the Washington Post reported, citing a White House spokesman.
CNN also reports, citing sources, that the suspension of aid is a move by the Trump administration to force Zelensky to publicly apologize for the quarrel in the Oval Office.
Politico notes that the order to halt military aid came just hours after Trump told reporters he hadn't even discussed such a pause yet — and three days after an Oval Office spat with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Then, during the argument, De Vance expressed dissatisfaction with the “lack of gratitude” from the Ukrainian president for the assistance provided, and Trump said in turn that Zelensky was playing “World War III” and stated that Kyiv “has no cards” to defeat Russia without continued assistance from the United States.
“Trump also made clear in public comments Monday that the economic deal Zelensky came to Washington to pursue remains in place. The carrot-and-stick approach is to force Zelensky into more serious talks to end the conflict with Russia,” Politico wrote.
What was put on “pause”
The Guardian writes that the decision applies to all aid that was previously approved by the US but has not yet been transferred, since Trump has not approved any new aid to Kyiv since taking office.
Journalists explain that this refers to American aid that is not in Ukraine, including weapons that are currently being transported by planes and ships or waiting in transit zones in Poland. This step, as Bloomberg writes, includes the delivery of critical ammunition, hundreds of guided multiple launch rocket systems, anti-tank weapons and other means.
The exact scale of the weapons is not yet known. But Bloomberg reminds us in its article that when Trump came to the White House, he had $3.85 billion left over from the previous administration under the so-called presidential authority to reduce American weapons stockpiles .
“It remained unclear whether the Trump administration would actually use this money for Ukraine, especially given that U.S. arms stockpiles are running low and need to be replenished,” the article says.
At the same time, if the US terminates existing contracts with arms manufacturers, this may involve the government paying compensation to those companies that have begun to fulfill orders under contracts for Ukraine.
In addition to the military component, American aid to Ukraine also includes budgetary assistance, which is provided primarily through the World Bank Trust Fund, and other funds that were provided through the United States Agency for International Development.
Western media write that “it remains questionable” whether the Americans will share intelligence data with Ukraine. However, several sources in military and political circles told RBC-Ukraine that there have been no changes in the provision of intelligence data to Ukraine by the United States as of now . At the same time, one of the sources doubts whether the suspension will affect intelligence data at all. Since, according to the source, “this is a different line of cooperation.”
Reuters also writes that Trump has stopped military aid to Ukraine. A source told the publication that this message is aimed not only at Ukraine, but also at Europe.
“President Trump has made it clear that he is focused on peace. We need our partners to be committed to that goal as well. We are pausing and reviewing our aid to make sure it is contributing to a solution,” said an unnamed U.S. official.
Key members of the US Congress' oversight committees were not notified of the decision to withhold aid, including members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, sources told the publication.
The news agency, again citing an anonymous source familiar with the situation, adds that the supply of American military supplies has indeed stopped. According to the source, the movement of goods bound for Ukraine stopped at about 03:30 Kyiv time (01:30 GMT).
Voice of America journalist Ostap Yarysh wrote that the latest packages included air defense missiles, HIMARS and artillery ammunition. At the same time, if you pay attention to the penultimate package, allocated a month before the end of Biden's presidential term, it was supposed to provide the Ukrainian Defense Forces with air defense, artillery and other weapons systems.
Meanwhile, ABC TV channel, citing Pentagon officials, reports that the suspension of military aid to Ukraine from the US has primarily affected the supply of armored vehicles.
What military aid did the US provide before the pause?
The U.S. aid included military aid and budget aid. Total U.S. aid for Ukraine through September 2024 was about $175 billion, according to reports from the Council on Foreign Relations and the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. Of that, $65.9 billion was military aid alone since February 2022.
The packages were last announced by Washington under the presidency of Joe Biden, who has been trying to provide Ukraine with as much vital aid as possible in his final weeks in office. The Guardian lists the aid that was announced before January 20, the final hours of the Biden administration.
Air Defense
Faced with persistent Russian air attacks, Washington sent Kyiv more sophisticated air defenses, including three Patriot anti-aircraft missile batteries. European allies have also provided Ukraine with such systems.
Other air defense systems included 12 NASAMS, Hawk systems and munitions, and more than 3,000 Stinger anti-aircraft missiles.
To improve the effectiveness of Ukrainian air defense, 21 air surveillance radars were provided, as well as equipment that integrates Western launchers and missiles into Ukrainian systems.
Rockets, shells, mortars
Washington sent ATACMS missiles, more than two hundred 155mm howitzers along with three million artillery shells, 72 105mm howitzers and a million shells for them, as well as hundreds of thousands of mortars to the Ukrainian Defense Forces, which are important for them.
More than 40 HIMARS multiple rocket launchers have been delivered with their ammunition. Washington has also given Ukraine more than 10,000 Javelins, the anti-tank missiles that became symbols of Ukrainian resistance to the Russian invasion in the early weeks of the war.
More than 120,000 other anti-tank weapons were delivered, as well as 10,000 Tow anti-tank missiles. Millions of rounds of small arms ammunition were supplied to the Ukrainian military.
Tanks, armored fighting vehicles
The Pentagon has been reluctant to send its own warplanes directly to Kyiv, but the Biden administration has provided 20 Soviet-designed Mi-17 military helicopters. It has also supplied several different models of drones.
After lengthy delays by the Biden administration, Washington delivered a total of 31 Abrams starting in January 2023. It also sent 45 Soviet-designed T-72B tanks.
The list also includes 300 Bradley Fighting Vehicles, 1,300 armored personnel carriers, more than 5,000 Humvees and 300 armored ambulances.
Washington also provided patrol boats, coastal defense systems, mines, satellite communications systems, night vision goggles and more than 100,000 sets of body armor.
Mixed reaction from Republicans
The decision to halt arms sales was made quickly but has sparked controversy among Republicans , with some lawmakers opposing the move, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Republicans in the US Congress, where the party holds a majority in both chambers, are divided on whether to continue aid to Ukraine, CNN has also confirmed.
“I don't believe that any of us sitting here believe that Ukraine can win this war, and the president says, 'Let's end this.' If Zelenskyy doesn't want to negotiate peace, then it's not our business to force taxpayers to continue to fund an endless war,” CNN quotes one Oklahoma Republican as saying.
But Republican Senator Susan Collins decried the pause, arguing that the U.S. must continue to support its ally. She said Congress “may not be able to do anything to ensure that Ukraine continues to receive U.S. aid.”
“This is a critical time for Ukraine. Last year, I led the Ukraine Supplemental Project, which provided additional aid to Ukraine, and I don't think we should stop our efforts. It's the Ukrainians who are bleeding,” the Maine Republican said.
The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Republican Congressman Brian Mast, told CNN that he was “aware of the option” for the Trump administration to suspend all US military aid to Ukraine.
How Ukraine Reacts
CNN journalists, citing Western officials after the decision, write that “Ukraine can likely maintain its current tempo of fighting for several weeks – perhaps until early summer – before the U.S. pause begins to have a serious effect.”
“While European countries can replace American supplies of artillery, supplemented by Ukraine's own growing defense industry, the most advanced weapons Kyiv uses come from the United States,” CNN reported.
However, as the people's deputy and member of the Defense Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Fedir Venislavsky said in a commentary to RBC-Ukraine, Ukraine has a margin of safety for about six months even without the systemic support of the United States.
“I think that Ukraine definitely has a margin of safety for about six months even without systemic assistance from the United States, but it will, of course, be much more difficult. Therefore, everyone is working now – the president's team, the Verkhovna Rada, and our committee – to consider options for compensating for this quantity and quality of weapons that the United States may stop or has already stopped providing to us,” he said.
According to him, last week a closed meeting of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence was held, where they considered a negative scenario of what would happen if the US stopped military aid.
“Our military-industrial complex has gained quite a large capacity in three years and is capable of significantly mitigating the threats and risks that will arise, given this situation. But there are, undoubtedly, those types of weapons without which it will be very difficult. Only the United States can supply them,” Venislavsky said.
The MP stressed that the main task is to look for alternatives so that Ukrainian air defense forces have sufficient means to repel air attacks, as well as high-precision and long-range MLRS, which only the Americans actually have.
The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Foreign Policy, Oleksandr Merezhko, called the announcement of the termination of US aid a “shocking decision.”
“Until the last moment, I hoped that Trump would not do this, because he wants to be popular, and such a move would definitely cause a negative reaction,” Merezhko told ABC News, adding that in this way “Trump is helping Putin kill Ukrainians.”
In turn, the head of the Center for Countering Disinformation of the National Security and Defense Council, Andriy Kovalenko, warned of an upcoming wave of manipulation and information pressure.
“We still need to wait for official information, because the media will inflate the balloon as much as possible to cause panic. In any case, diplomacy is underway. Any swings are part of diplomatic combinations, we must not forget about this,” he added.
The Office of the President of Ukraine also made a statement. Adviser to the head of the OP Mykhailo Podolyak emphasized that many programs were already at the completion stage. According to him, Ukraine is currently conducting a thorough audit of what is available, what can be developed within the framework of partnership cooperation and what can be replaced.
“We are looking for something on commercial markets. We are discussing it with European partners. But we are still not ignoring the possibility of negotiations with our American partners,” Podolyak wrote.
At the same time, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, who gave a press conference today, reported that “as of yesterday, arms supplies from the US continued” and he “has no information that something has been stopped.”
“As of yesterday evening, we had received all the assistance. As of this morning, I had not yet coordinated with the Minister of Defense whether there had been any changes. If there had been, I am sure that the Minister would have informed me about it,” Shmyhal said.
At the same time, when asked by RBC-Ukraine whether Ukraine can adapt if the US does not provide assistance, he stated that “the military and the government have tools to maintain the situation on the front line,” but this information is not subject to disclosure for obvious reasons.
The US made the decision without consulting its allies
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said reports confirmed the suspension of US aid to Ukraine via a hub in Poland. He said the situation would force the government to make decisions in a “somewhat extraordinary” way.
“There is no reason to believe that the statements of the American side are 'just words'. This, of course, puts Europe, Ukraine and Poland in a more difficult situation,” Tusk said.
Meanwhile, Polish Foreign Ministry spokesman Pawel Wronski said the US had taken this step without any information or consultations with NATO allies or the Ramstein group, which supports Ukraine. He added that the Americans had not informed their allies of their decision, and the EU Council is currently discussing the issue.
“According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this is a very important decision, and the situation is very serious,” Vronsky added.
Recall that on February 28, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Washington, where he met with US President Donald Trump at the White House. It was expected that Ukraine and the US would sign an agreement on mineral resources.
However, during the conversation with journalists in the Oval Office, Zelensky and Trump and US Vice President J.D. Vance had an argument regarding the Russian-Ukrainian war. The parties were divided in their opinions, and Washington and Kyiv did not sign the agreement.
But Zelensky went to London to meet with European leaders and said that the end of the war was a long way off. This outraged Trump, who called it “the worst statement that could have been made by Zelensky and America will not tolerate it for long.”
Later on Monday, the US president hinted that Zelensky would not last long if he “doesn't want a deal.”
“It doesn't have to be such a hard deal. It can be done very quickly,” Trump told reporters, referring to the cease-fire.
In preparing the material, the following publications were used: Politico, Reuters, CNN, New York Times, Voice of America, ABC News, Bloomberg, as well as exclusive comments for RBC-Ukraine.
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