US shutdown freezes discussion of military support for Ukraine - The Telegraph

Discussions of US military support for Ukraine have been frozen after the government shutdown on Wednesday. Ukrainian delegations that were scheduled to arrive in the United States in the coming weeks are now reconsidering their plans.

The Telegraph reports this with reference to a source in the Ukrainian government.

So, hundreds of thousands of federal workers have been furloughed after Democrats and Republicans failed to agree on government spending, leaving talks on a possible drone deal in limbo.

Meanwhile, humanitarian organizations have warned that Ukraine is facing "massive attacks" from russia of "unprecedented intensity" amid the U.S. government shutdown.

As The Wall Street Journal wrote, a Ukrainian delegation flew to Washington on Tuesday to meet with White House officials to conclude an agreement to share drone technology, in which Kyiv has world-leading expertise, in exchange for royalties from the United States.

But the talks have been thrown into question by the government shutdown, which has forced federal employees to stay home.

"I don't see how they will continue. The main concern is we have a lot of discussions ongoing about future shipments [of weapons]. All future projects are a little bit harmed because people from the Pentagon, State Department and White House are not meeting and we lose the time because of this shutdown," a Ukrainian government source told The Telegraph.

The source added that "other Ukrainian delegations who were supposed to come in the coming weeks are now reviewing their plans."

The newspaper notes that the upcoming drone deal, which could be worth billions of dollars, has the support of Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy and will be an important turning point in security relations between Washington and Kyiv.

Last month, the United States signed a USD 500 million aid package for Ukraine, the first since Trump returned to office, using funds from NATO countries. It is also unclear whether the government shutdown will affect these deliveries.

As a reminder, on October 1, the US federal government partially suspended its work after Republicans and Democrats failed to agree on a budget. Due to the shutdown, some government agencies have stopped operations, social programs have been frozen, and hundreds of thousands of civil servants have been sent on unpaid furloughs.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, the prolonged shutdown of the US government threatens serious financial losses for the country. According to a memorandum by President Donald Trump's economic advisers, each week of the shutdown will cost the economy about USD 15 billion in lost GDP growth.