Weapons halt seen as setback for Ukraine

SBS Australia

12 hours ago

"Continued US support for Ukraine, for our defence, for our people, is in our shared interest held by everyone in our country. Air defence for Ukraine is protection for every company operating in our state." That's Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. In a video posted to his social media platform X, President Zelenskyy said Ukraine and the US are clarifying all the details of defence support, including air defence. It comes as the US halted its weapons shipments to Ukraine due to concerns over low US stockpiles. In recent days, Russia has made territorial gains in Ukraine and blasted the country with unrelenting drone and missile attacks. In a statement, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry explained that the defence ministry said it had not been officially notified of any halt in US shipments. They say they are seeking clarity from their American counterparts. The White House announced earlier this week that they will suspend some major arms shipments that the Biden administration promised to Ukraine. Dmitry Peskov is the spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin. "The initiative came from the French side. As you are aware, President Putin has repeatedly expressed his readiness for dialogue. They exchanged views in quite some detail. It was a good opportunity to communicate each others positions. For now, the telephone format is quite sufficient for exchanging positions." He welcomes the move by the US. "As far as we understand, the reason for this decision was empty depots, a shortage of weapons in storage. In any case, the fewer weapons that are supplied to Ukraine, the closer the end of the special military operation is." Reports say the decision was driven by the Pentagon's policy chief, Elbridge Colby, and was made after a review of Pentagon munitions stockpiles. Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell - who declined during a briefing to detail which weapons were being held back - said a pause to consider the health of the US stockpile was necessary. "The President's strategic outset with regards to Ukraine and Russia has been one of peace. He campaigned on this when he was asked on a town hall with CNN about that war. He said he wanted to just stop people from dying. What we've done here at Department of Defense is create a framework. To analyse what munitions we're sending where, to help the President and the Secretary of Defense make decisions. And so ultimately, our job here at the Department of Defense is to pursue the President's America First Agenda and make sure that we achieve peace through strength throughout the world." The temporary halt is understood to include Patriot air defence missiles; artillery rounds; Gimler missiles fired by multiple launch rocket systems; surface to air Stringer missiles, and missiles fired by jet. It's a setback for Ukraine, which has faced increasing, and more complex, air strikes from Russia during the more than three-year-long war. But US State Department spokesperson, Tammy Bruce downplayed the administration's decision to pause some deliveries of US weapons to Ukraine. "We haven't paused sending weapons to Ukraine. This is one aspect, one situation, one event that has been changed, as you heard from the DOD (Department of Defense). There are multiple robust other options and efforts regarding the Ukrainian situation with weapons. Again, I don't speak for the DOD. I can only refer to their statement and to what they've stated very bluntly. The President has also indicated his remaining commitment regarding Patriot missile." She stresses that this is not the end of their assistance to Ukraine. "This is not, I will reinforce this, this is not a cessation of US assisting Ukraine or of providing weapons." So far, efforts by US President Donald Trump in achieving a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, have failed. The California National Guard has been training Ukrainian troops since before the full scale invasion by Russia. Former Adjutant General at Cal Guard, Major General David Baldwin told PBS News the halt on weapons will be a setback for Ukraine. "The United States not sending those particular weapons systems will have a tactical effect on the battlefield. But really the effect is more on the will and morale of the Ukrainian people and if you want to negotiate a peace settlement it's always better to negotiate from a position of strength, and that position of strength comes by continuing for the United States and our Western allies to supply arms aid material to the Ukrainian so they can continue to fight this illegal aggression." He says while Ukrainian and European defence firms are trying to increase their production of weapons, that just takes time, especially for air defence. "They're not quite not ready, and they are certainly not ready to start producing super sophisticated weapon systems like Patriot. The answer is unfortunately a tough one for the United States government. I would recommend that they continue to support the Ukrainians cause that's the fight that's happening right now. That's a fight against tyranny right now. While we continue to tool up our defence industry to spend more money to increase our capacity to build capacity to later face the Chinese."