Ukraine left scrambling after US says halting weapons shipments
Kyiv said it had not been told anything by the United States about the halt to aid, which could thwart its ability to fend off escalating Russian air attacks.
Moscow revelled in the decision, saying it could bring the end of the war closer.
Kyiv has long feared halts to US aid after Donald Trump returned to the White House in January, having criticised the tens of billions of dollars in support and weapons sent by his predecessor, Joe Biden.
The US embassy's deputy chief of mission, John Ginkel, was summoned on Wednesday -- a rare diplomatic move usually reserved for foes and rivals, not vital allies -- amid uncertainty about what the cuts would mean for Kyiv.
'The Ukrainian side stressed that any delay or procrastination in supporting Ukraine's defence capabilities would only encourage the aggressor to continue the war,' Ukraine's foreign ministry said in a statement.
The White House announced Tuesday it was halting some key weapons shipments to Ukraine promised by the previous US administration, but did not provide details on what would be cut.
Under Biden, Washington had spearheaded Western support for Ukraine, with Congress having approved more than $100 billion in aid, including $43 billion in weaponry.
Trump, who has held several phone calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin and pushed the two sides into peace talks, has refused to announce new packages and Kyiv has been corralling Washington's European allies to step up support for when US deliveries end.
Putin has rejected calls for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire and demanded Ukraine cede more territory if it wants Moscow to halt its invasion.
Tens of thousands have been killed since February 2022 when Russia invaded, with millions forced to flee their homes and swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine destroyed.
'Seriously dependent'
A senior Ukrainian military official raised concerns about the impact of the weapons halt to AFP.
'We are now seriously dependent on American arms supplies, although Europe is doing its best, but it will be difficult for us without American ammunition,' a high-ranking source in the Ukrainian military said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
In Moscow, the Kremlin said reducing the flow of weapons to Kyiv will help end the conflict faster.
'The fewer the number of weapons that are delivered to Ukraine, the closer the end of the special military operation,' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in response to a question by AFP, using Russia's term for its more than three-year offensive.
The US decision was taken 'following a DOD (Department of Defense) review of our nation's military support and assistance to other countries across the globe,' White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly told AFP in an email.
Kyiv said it was caught off-guard by the move.
'Ukraine has not received any official notifications about the suspension or revision of the delivery schedules for the agreed defence assistance,' the defence ministry said.
'The path to ending the war lies through consistent and joint pressure on the aggressor, as well as through continued support for Ukraine,' it added.
'We are clarifying the situation. I think that everything will be clarified in the coming days,' presidential aide Dmytro Lytvyn told reporters.
Politico and other US media reported that missiles for Patriot air defence systems, precision artillery and Hellfire missiles are among the items being held back.
Last week at a NATO summit in the Netherlands, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with Trump, who gave no public indication he was thinking of cutting aid.
'We're going to see if we can make some available,' Trump said of the air defence missiles that Kyiv desperately seeks to shoot down Russian attacks.
'They're very hard to get,' Trump added.
Russia has ramped up attacks on Ukraine in June, launching nearly twice as many missiles and over 30 percent more drones than in May, according to an AFP analysis of Ukrainian air force data.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New Straits Times
an hour ago
- New Straits Times
US-Vietnam trade deal sows new China uncertainty
HANOI: Vietnam's trade deal with the United States averts the most punishing of Donald Trump's "reciprocal" levies, but analysts warned it could provoke a fresh standoff between Washington and Beijing. The Southeast Asian nation has the third-biggest trade surplus with the United States of any country after China and Mexico, and was targeted with one of the highest rates in the US president's "Liberation Day" tariff blitz on April 2. The deal announced Wednesday is the first full pact Trump has sealed with an Asian nation, and analysts say it may give a glimpse of the template Washington will use with other countries still scrambling for accords. The 46 per cent rate due to take effect next week has been averted, with Vietnam set to face a minimum 20 per cent tariff in return for opening its market to US products including cars. But a 40 per cent tariff will hit goods passing through the country to circumvent steeper trade barriers — a practice called "transshipping". Washington has accused Hanoi of relabelling Chinese goods to skirt its tariffs, but raw materials from the world's number two economy are the lifeblood of Vietnam's manufacturing industries. "From a global perspective, perhaps the most interesting point is that this deal again seems in large part to be about China," said Capital Economics. It said the terms on transshipment "will be seen as a provocation in Beijing, particularly if similar conditions are included in any other deals agreed over coming days". Shares in clothing companies and sports equipment manufacturers — which have a large footprint in Vietnam — rose on news of the deal in New York. But they later declined sharply as details were released. "This is a much better outcome than a flat 46 per cent tariff, but I wouldn't celebrate just yet," said Hanoi-based Dan Martin of Asian business advisory firm Dezan Shira & Associates. "Everything now depends on how the US decides to interpret and enforce the idea of transshipment," he added. "If the US takes a broader view and starts questioning products that use foreign parts, even when value is genuinely added in Vietnam, it could end up affecting a lot of companies that are playing by the rules." Vietnam's government said in a statement late on Wednesday that under the deal the country had promised "preferential market access for US goods, including large-engine cars". But the statement gave scant detail about the transshipment arrangements in the deal, which Trump announced on his Truth Social platform. Bloomberg Economics forecast Vietnam could lose a quarter of its exports to the United States in the medium term, endangering more than two per cent of its gross domestic product as a result of the agreement. Uncertainty over how transshipping will be "defined or enforced" is likely to have diplomatic repercussions, said Bloomberg Economics expert Rana Sajedi. "The looming question now is how China will respond," she said. "Beijing has made clear that it would respond to deals that came at the expense of Chinese interests." "The decision to agree to a higher tariff on goods deemed to be 'transshipped' through Vietnam may fall in that category," added Sajedi.
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
Suspended Thai leader Paetongtarn sworn in as Minister in new cabinet lineup
Paetongtarn Shinawatra gesturing as she arrived at Government House before being sworn in as the new culture minster on July 3, 2025. - AFP BANGKOK: Thailand's suspended Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra was sworn in as a cabinet minister Thursday (July 3), a manoeuvre allowing her to attend ministerial meetings while awaiting the results of a court review of her alleged misconduct. Paetongtarn, who will be Minister of Culture in the country's newly revamped cabinet, and 13 other ministers were sworn in by King Maha Vajiralongkorn in Bangkok, according to government spokesman Jirayu Houngsub. The ministerial shuffle was announced on Tuesday, hours before the Constitutional Court stripped Paetongtarn of prime ministerial authority. The ruling coalition had aimed to consolidate support from smaller parties following the recent withdrawal of the conservative Bhumjaithai Party, which significantly weakened the alliance's parliamentary majority. The renewed political turbulence has cast fresh doubt on the government's ability to pass critical legislation, including the upcoming budget, and raised questions about its long-term viability. Paetongtarn's father was ousted as prime minister in a military coup, and her immediate predecessor was removed from office by court ruling in August last year. The SET Index is already the world's worst-performing stock benchmark this year. The latest instability stems in part from a controversial phone call last month between Paetongtarn and former Cambodian leader Hun Sen, in which they discussed a simmering border dispute between the two countries. A leaked audio of the call triggered an uproar and dented her popularity, leading to speculation that smaller parties in the ruling bloc may explore new alliances, threatening the government's stability. Political "noise could increase in the coming months given concerns about the unity of the Pheu Thai Party-led government's coalition partners,' according to Tim Leelahaphan, a Bangkok-based economist at Standard Chartered Plc. "Increasingly volatile politics, coupled with recent Thai-Cambodian border tensions, have raised fears of a military takeover,' he wrote in a note on Wednesday. The Constitutional Court on July 1 gave Paetongtarn 15 days to respond to the allegations in the petition. Acting Prime Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit is expected to chair a special cabinet meeting later on Thursday, during which deputy prime ministers and ministers within the Prime Minister's Office may be assigned new responsibilities. Phumtham Wechayachai, a senior Pheu Thai politician who was sworn in as Minister of the Interior, is set to take over from Suriya as acting prime minister. - Bloomberg
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
Hindu pilgrimage begins from site of deadly Kashmir attack amid tight security
An Indian police officer standing guard as the fleet of cars carrying the first batch of pilgrims, en route to the Amarnath shrine, passes through the outskirts of Srinagar on July 2, 2025. - AP PAHALGAM, India: Hindus began a vast month-long pilgrimage in contested Indian Kashmir on Thursday (July 3), with many of the faithful starting from near the site where a deadly April attack triggered conflict with Pakistan. Last year, half a million devotees took part in the Amarnath pilgrimage to a sacred ice pillar located in a cave in the forested Himalayan hills above the town of Pahalgam. Pahalgam is the site of an April 22 militant attack during which gunmen killed 26 mostly Hindu tourists. New Delhi said the gunmen were backed by Pakistan, claims Islamabad rejected -- triggering a series of tit-for-tat diplomatic measures that escalated into a four-day conflict. It was the worst standoff by the nuclear-armed nations since 1999, with more than 70 people killed in missile, drone and artillery fire on both sides, before a May 10 ceasefire. But pilgrim Muneshwar Das Shashtri, who travelled from Uttar Pradesh state, told AFP "there is no fear of any kind". "Our army is standing guard everywhere. No one can raise a finger towards us," he said. India has ramped up security for the event, deploying 45,000 troops with high-tech surveillance tools overseeing the gruelling trek to reach the high-altitude cave dedicated to the Hindu deity of destruction Shiva. "We have multi-layered and in-depth security arrangements so that we can make the pilgrimage safe and smooth for the devotees," said VK Birdi, police chief for the Muslim-majority territory. At Pahalgam, soldiers have turned a tented base camp into a fortress encircled by razor wire. Troops in newly deployed armoured cars, or from gun positions behind sandbags, keep a close watch -- efforts boosted by facial recognition cameras. "High-quality surveillance cameras have been installed at all major points along the route," said Manoj Sinha, the Indian-appointed top administrator for Jammu and Kashmir. All pilgrims must be registered and travel in guarded vehicle convoys, until they start out to walk. Camouflaged bunkers have been erected in the forests along the route, where dozens of makeshift kitchens provide free food. Electronic radio cards pinpoint their location. Pilgrims can take several days to reach the cave, perched at 3,900 metres (12,800 feet) high, around 30km (18 miles) uphill from the last easily motorable track. "Whatever the attack that was carried out here, I am not afraid. I have come to get a glimpse of baba (the ice formation)" said Ujwal Yadav, 29, from India's Uttar Pradesh state, undertaking his first pilgrimage to the shrine. "Such are the security arrangements here that no one can be hurt." Sinha has said that "public confidence is returning", but admits that pilgrim registration had dipped by 10 per cent this year. - AFP
