The Defense Department held up a shipment of U.S. weapons
for Ukraine this week over what officials said were concerns about its
low stockpiles. But an analysis by senior military officers found that
the aid package would not jeopardize the American military’s own
ammunition supplies, according to three U.S. officials.
The
move to halt the weapons shipment blindsided the State Department,
members of Congress, officials in Kyiv and European allies, according to
multiple sources with knowledge of the matter.
Critics
of the decision included Republicans and Democrats who support aiding
Ukraine’s fight against Russia. A leading House Democrat, Adam Smith of
Washington, said it was disingenuous of the Pentagon to use military
readiness to justify halting aid when the real reason appears to be
simply to pursue an agenda of cutting off American aid to Ukraine.
- “We
are not at any lower point, stockpile-wise, than we’ve been in the 3½
years of the Ukraine conflict,” Smith, the ranking member of the House
Armed Services Committee, told NBC News.
- Smith
said that his staff has “seen the numbers” and, without going into
detail, that there was no indication of a shortage that would justify
suspending aid to Ukraine.
Suspending
the shipment of military aid to Ukraine was a unilateral step by
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, according to three congressional aides
and a former U.S. official familiar with the matter.
- It was the third
time Hegseth on his own has stopped shipments of aid to Ukraine, the
sources said.
- In the two previous cases, in February and in May, his
actions were reversed days later.
A
senior Pentagon official, Elbridge Colby, the undersecretary of defense
for policy, has backed the moves, the sources said. Colby has long
advocated scaling back the U.S. commitment in Ukraine and shifting
weapons and resources to the Pacific region to counter China.
Lawmakers
from both parties were frustrated that they were not notified in
advance and were examining whether the delayed shipment violated
legislation mandating security assistance for Ukraine, according to
congressional aides. Those lawmakers and some European allies were
trying to determine just why the Pentagon ordered the suspension and
were scrambling to get it reversed.
The
White House has defended the decision, saying it followed an ongoing
review by the Defense Department of U.S. assistance to allies and
partners abroad that began last month.
The
review began after Hegseth issued a memo ordering the Pentagon’s Joint
Staff to review stockpiles of all munitions. According to three
officials familiar with the matter, the assessment found that some
stockpiles of high-precision munitions were at lower levels but not yet
beyond critical minimums.
The
Joint Staff concluded that providing continued assistance to Ukraine
would not drain U.S. supplies below a required threshold needed to
ensure military readiness, the officials said.
The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell called the assessment a “capability review" at a briefing Wednesday.
- “We
can’t give weapons to everybody all around the world,” Parnell said.
- “Part of our job is to give the president a framework that he can use to
evaluate how many munitions we have where we’re sending them.
- And that
review process is happening right now and is ongoing.”
Ukraine
has issued urgent appeals to Washington for more air defense systems as
Russia has stepped up its bombardment of Ukrainian cities.
Over the
weekend, Russia launched its biggest aerial attack of the three-year-old conflict, firing 60 missiles and 477 drones across the country.
The
delayed shipment included dozens of Patriot interceptors, coveted
weapons for Ukraine to knock out incoming missiles, as well as 155 mm
artillery rounds, Hellfire missiles, precision-guided missile systems
known as GMLRS, grenade launchers, Stinger surface-to-air missiles and
AIM air-to-air missiles for Ukraine’s small fleet of F-16 fighter jets.
In
Poland and other European countries, some of the U.S. weapons had
already been loaded onto trucks, ready to be delivered to Kyiv to help
its government fend off Russian missile attacks and hold the line
against ground forces in the country’s east. Then, military officers and
officials handling the shipment got word that the delivery had been
called off, said two sources with knowledge of the matter.
The
weapons shipment was approved during the Biden administration, three
U.S. officials said. Some of the weapons were pulled from U.S.
stockpiles, with the Pentagon receiving funds to replenish them. Other
munitions fall under a program that provides money to buy new weapons
for Ukraine from American defense companies, the officials said. Those
weapons are not drawn from U.S. supplies.
‘Rookie mistake’
Since
the United States began sending large shipments of weapons to Kyiv
after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, U.S.
officials and commanders have grown concerned about the state of
American stockpiles of munitions and other equipment.
The
aid effort has laid bare the inadequacy of the defense industrial base
to replenish those weapons stocks. That has, in some cases, put the
Pentagon at dangerously low levels of some munitions, including 155 mm
artillery rounds, according to multiple U.S. officials and former
military officers.
In a letter to President Donald Trump,
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., requested an emergency briefing from the
White House and the Defense Department to review the decision “to
withhold urgent, lifesaving military assistance to Ukraine.”
He argued that it was possible to both maintain adequate weapons supplies for the U.S. military and send arms badly needed by Kyiv.
Dan Caldwell, a former senior Pentagon official, defended the pause by Hegseth and Colby.
"They
are prioritizing the safety and readiness of our own military over
pleasing the foreign policy establishment, who often seem in denial
about the real constraints the United States military is facing,"
Caldwell said.
Hegseth has
twice before suspended aid to Ukraine without apparent coordination with
lawmakers on Capitol Hill or even within the administration. The first
time, in February, drew a prickly response from the chairman of the
Senate Armed Services Committee, Roger Wicker, R-Miss., who called the
move “a rookie mistake.”
The next time was in early May, according to a Senate aide. In both cases, the suspensions of aid were reversed within days.
Rep.
Michael McCaul, R- Texas, a staunch supporter of military aid to
Ukraine, said it was crucial to show Russia that the United States would
stand behind Ukraine.
“We can’t let Putin prevail now. President Trump knows that too and it’s why he’s been advocating for peace,” McCaul wrote on social media.
“Now is the time to show Putin we mean business. And that starts with
ensuring Ukraine has the weapons Congress authorized to pressure Putin
to the negotiating table.”
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