Ukraine responds to US suspension of military aid
Ukraine has summoned the US charge d'affaires in Kiev, John Ginkel, following reports that Washington had suspended deliveries of key weapons systems. Military experts and Western officials all warn that the country cannot sustain conflict in the short term without continued military support.
Several American media outlets, including The New York Times, Politico, and NBC News, reported on Wednesday that the US had paused shipments of Patriot missile interceptors, GMLRS rockets, Hellfire missiles, and thousands of 155mm artillery shells. NBC reported that some of the shipments had already arrived in Europe but were withheld from being transferred to Ukrainian forces.
According to a statement issued by the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, Ginkel was "invited" to a discussion by Foreign Minister Andrey Sybiga on Wednesday.
During the talks, the Ukrainians emphasized "the critical importance of continuing the deliveries of previously allocated defense packages," particularly air defense systems.
The US envoy was informed that any "delay or procrastination in supporting Ukraine's defense capabilities" would prolong the conflict.
Ukraine's Defense Ministry has not confirmed the pause. In a statement on Wednesday, it said that it is "clarifying the current factual circumstances of the supplies," stressing that Kiev has not received any official notifications about the suspension.
According to media reports, the Pentagon halted the deliveries after US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered a review of available weapons stockpiles, citing concerns over munitions depletion.
White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly has confirmed that some transfers had been paused following a Department of Defense assessment of global commitments, stating that "this decision was made to put America's interests first."
The latest reported suspension marks the second time that US President Donald Trump's administration has withheld munitions from Kiev since he entered office in January.
Kiev has repeatedly voiced frustration over what it sees as dwindling US support from Washington.
Vladimir Zelensky met with US President Donald Trump at the NATO summit in The Hague last week, to demand more Patriot air defense systems but received no firm promises. Trump said the systems were "very hard to get" and that the US needed them for its own defense and for Israel.
Russia has consistently condemned Western arm shipments to Ukraine, arguing that they only serve to prolong hostilities and lead to more bloodshed without affecting the inevitable outcome of the conflict.
(RT.com)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
33 minutes ago
- The Star
Analysis-US SEC's guidance is first step toward rules governing crypto ETFs
(Reuters) -New U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission guidance on disclosure requirements for exchange-traded products tied to cryptocurrencies marked the first step toward approval of dozens of applications for ETFs linked to everything from Solana and XRP to President Donald Trump's eponymous meme coin. The guidance, issued last Tuesday, signaled a dramatic shift by Republican leadership in how the top U.S. markets regulator deals with the crypto sector. The SEC has launched a task force to draft new regulations, refocused its crypto enforcement team and paused or altogether walked away from high-profile enforcement cases that many thought the agency was winning. The 12-page document is the first part of the new landscape for crypto funds that SEC staff members are designing. Asset managers also anticipate guidance from the SEC's division of trading and markets on ways to streamline the application process, said people familiar with the discussions. This should accelerate the pace for new product debuts. "The SEC is moving forward on creating a framework for how they'd like to see all these crypto assets included in investment funds" to address the "explosion" in the number of ETFs now awaiting a regulatory verdict, said Sui Chung, CEO of crypto index provider CF Benchmarks. Industry participants said they saw few surprises so far. "The most interesting and important thing about this guidance is that it exists," said Matt Hougan, chief investment officer of Bitwise Asset Management, which has more than half a dozen crypto ETFs awaiting SEC approval. "It suggests that the SEC acknowledges that crypto ETPs are becoming part of the mainstream and so it's trying to lay down rules of the road to save both issuers and SEC staff time and hassle." The SEC guidance spells out that in order to be approved, issuers must clearly address, in "plain English", all factors that make crypto-based ETFs distinctive, such as custody arrangements and risks of the hyper-competitive landscape. The next document, however, is likely to prove more significant. According to several people familiar with the ongoing discussions, who could not speak publicly due to the confidentiality of those proceedings, the SEC staff is seeking to create a new listing template to replace the current need for exchanges to submit a special form each time they want to list a new crypto product. That form, known as a 19(b)4, asks for an exemption from current listing rules for the specific ETF. Eliminating that from the process could cut the time between filing and launch dates from as much as 240 days to only 75 days. "The SEC is looking for a general rule it can apply to all listings, and currently is going back and forth on precise wording with the exchanges," said a senior executive at one issuer, who added he expected that exchanges will submit that kind of general filing within "days or weeks." Officials at the Nasdaq Stock Market and Cboe declined to comment on these talks; the New York Stock Exchange did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for the SEC also declined comment on the discussions. While ETFs tied to the spot prices of everything from coins like XRP, Polkadot, Dogecoin and the Trump meme coin await an SEC verdict, issuers expect the next batch of crypto products will be tied to Solana,the world's sixth-largest cryptocurrency. That likely will not happen until after the SEC has rolled out the second part of its guidance, pushing the launch date into early autumn, issuers said. Some asset managers are not waiting. Last week, REX Financial and Osprey Funds used a more indirect and complex approach to launch the first U.S. ETF to give investors exposure to Solana, the REX-Osprey Sol + Staking ETF. In contrast to the half-dozen spot Solana ETFs awaiting approval, it invests in a separate entity that in turn will own both Solana and a non-U.S. Solana fund. That structure means REX can bypass the rules governing those commodity funds and leapfrog other issuers, as well as offering investors access to yield via the cryptocurrency "staking" mechanism. In staking, cryptocurrency holders volunteer to take part in validating transactions on the blockchain, checking that the ledger all adds up. In return, validators either receive a share of the transaction fees or newly created cryptocurrencies. "We do think the SEC is taking big steps forward in dealing with cryptocurrency, but it's still the SEC, and not everything has been codified yet," Greg King, CEO of REX Financial, told Reuters. King acknowledged he is trying to get a head start on what is expected to be a fiercely competitive race for market share on new Solana products. The new ETF pulled in $12 million of assets on its first day of trading on Wednesday, July 1, King said. "We'll probably do a spot Solana ETP too, once those rules are in place," he added. "There's no either/or in this situation." (Reporting by Suzanne McGee; additional reporting by Chris Prentice, Editing by Alden Bentley and David Gregorio)
The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
Russia claims capture of first village in Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region
MOSCOW: Russia has declared the capture of Dachne village in Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region, marking its first claimed territorial gain in the central area since the invasion began over three years ago. The Russian defence ministry confirmed the advance, though Ukrainian forces earlier reported repelling attacks near the settlement. Dnipropetrovsk, home to the strategic city of Dnipro, has faced relentless Russian strikes since the war began in February 2022. The region serves as a critical industrial and mining hub for Ukraine, making further Russian advances a potential threat to Kyiv's military and economic stability. While Dnipropetrovsk is not among the five regions Russia has formally annexed, Moscow has previously targeted Dnipro with experimental missile strikes, including an attack on an aeronautics facility in late 2024. - AFP
The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
Zelenskiy spoke with Trump about replacing envoy to US, Bloomberg News reports
FILE PHOTO: Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy holds a press conference, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, December 19, 2023. REUTERS/Alina Smutko/File Photo (Reuters) -Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy discussed replacing the current ambassador to the U.S., Oksana Markarova, during his phone call with President Donald Trump on Friday, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing a person familiar with the matter. The country's Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal is on a list of potential candidates to become Kyiv's envoy to Washington, alongside Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and Energy Minister German Galushchenko, the report said, citing an unnamed source. Zelenskiy had said on Saturday that his conversation with Trump last week was the best and "most productive" he has had to date, adding that the two leaders had discussed "several other important matters." The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours. Reuters could not immediately verify the Bloomberg report. (Reporting by Dheeraj Kumar in Bengaluru, Editing by William Maclean and Bernadette Baum)
