Pentagon suspends arms shipments to Ukraine: The US is reviewing its own stockpiles
2 July 07:57
The United States will suspend providing Ukraine with missiles for air defense systems and other precision-guided munitions. This information was confirmed by one of the White House spokespersons, Anna Kelly, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports citing NBC News.
The United States has suspended a new batch of weapons for Ukraine due to concerns about the depletion of its own military stockpiles. This decision was made by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hagel, according to NBC News sources from the Defense Department and Congress.
According to the sources, the supplies were halted after an internal review initiated by Hagesse. The review was aimed at assessing the level of U.S. stockpiles of weapons after the continued supply of weapons to Kyiv, as well as the active participation of the U.S. military in operations in the Middle East, including the fight against the Houthis in Yemen and support for Israel against threats from Iran.
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly explained that the decision “was made to protect U.S. national interests.”
The Pentagon has not yet commented on the situation, but NBC News, citing its own sources, cites a list of weapons that will no longer be supplied to Ukraine. Among them are both air defense and frontline equipment:
- dozens of Patriot interceptors;
- thousands of 155-millimeter high-explosive howitzer ammunition
- more than 100 Hellfire missiles;
- over 250 GMLRS high-precision missile systems;
- dozens of Stinger surface-to-air missiles, AIM air-to-air missiles and grenade launchers.
The publication notes that ammunition and other weapons may be detained until the assessment is completed, and if ammunition is in short supply or needed in other parts of the world, it may be detained even longer.
Earlier, the media reported that the Pentagon had suspended the supply of some air defense missiles and other precision munitions to Ukraine due to concerns that the US arsenals had become too low.
