US President Donald Trump is considering a new military aid package for Ukraine worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The aid comes a week after the Pentagon abruptly halted part of the previously allocated weapons, which included thousands of artillery shells and precision-guided munitions.
It was reported by Politico, citing two anonymous sources.
The funding will come from a fund approved by the US Congress during the presidency of Joe Biden, which allows the Department of Defense to transfer weapons to Ukraine from existing US military stocks.
About USD 3.8 billion remains in this fund. The White House and the Pentagon have not yet provided official comments on this matter. At the same time, NATO member states are working on a larger agreement that provides for the purchase of American weapons for Ukraine.
A US congressional aide, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Kyiv had asked Washington to allow European countries to buy US weapons for further transfer to Ukraine.
The US Department of Defense said it had temporarily suspended the supply of weapons due to concerns about the level of its own strategic reserves. However, some officials do not share this position and believe that the amount of aid to Ukraine does not have a significant impact on US defense capabilities.
According to a source familiar with the developments, Deputy Secretary of Defense Steve Feinberg convened a meeting in his office last month with the heads of leading defense companies on this issue. The participants discussed the same challenges that the Biden administration had previously voiced: the war in Ukraine and US military activity in the Middle East had significantly reduced the Pentagon's ammunition reserves.
According to the source, Feinberg, who is responsible for budget planning at the Ministry of Defense, is currently considering the possibility of applying to Congress with a proposal for new funding to replenish ammunition. In addition, he calls on the defense industry to accelerate the production of air defense systems, precision missiles and artillery shells.
"The aid package for Ukraine that was halted this month included 30 Patriot air defense missiles and hundreds of precision weapons that Ukraine uses for offensive and defensive purposes. Some 8,000 155mm howitzers shells and 250 Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System rockets have started moving into Ukraine, but it is unclear if and when the Patriot air defense missiles will move," the article says.
As the publication notes, the new military aid, the first from Washington since January of this year, is provided against the backdrop of significant russian drone and missile strikes.
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