2w ago

US halts weapons shipments to Ukraine over fears stockpiles are too low

www.theguardian.com

The US is halting some shipments of weapons to Ukraine amid concerns that its own stockpiles have declined too much, officials said Tuesday, a setback for the country as it tries to fend off escalating attacks from Russia.

Certain munitions were previously promised to Ukraine under the Biden administration to aid its defences during the more than three-year-old war. The pause reflects a new set of priorities under President Donald Trump and came after defence department officials scrutinised US stockpiles and raised concerns.

“This decision was made to put America’s interests first following a review of our nation’s military support and assistance to other countries across the globe,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement. “The strength of the United States Armed Forces remains unquestioned – just ask Iran.”

United States | News & Politics @lemmy.ml

geneva_convenience @lemmy.ml

2w ago

US halts weapons shipments to Ukraine over fears stockpiles are too low

www.theguardian.com /world/2025/jul/02/us-halts-ukraine-weapons-shipments

News @lemmy.world

HellsBelle @sh.itjust.works

2w ago

US halts weapons shipments to Ukraine over fears stockpiles are too low

www.theguardian.com /world/2025/jul/02/us-halts-ukraine-weapons-shipments

27 comments

In that case they should probably stop sending weapons to Israel too
- I keep saying it. Ukraine will be sacrificed to Russia, so Israel can keep up the genocide and invading its neighbors.
  Merz, Macron, Starmer... The ghouls that applauded Israels war of aggression against Iran are more and more betraying Ukraine to Russia and subsequently they are betraying their own people too.
- What kind of antisemitic, communist, muslim fundamentalist terrorist are you to suggest such an outrageous idea?
  
  The best kind?
- I'm pretty sure both things are connected. The US can't (no longer?) fight a war on two fronts...
  
  I'd be shocked if we can't. Since WWII, our whole military mission has been predicated on simultaneously fighting two major fronts and one brush fire. We've only recently dropped the brush fire bit.
  OTOH, maybe I'm wrong. Put my comment in ChatGPT:
  Obama-era Reassessment (2012): The strategy began shifting toward being able to fight one major war while deterring or denying another — a step down from the full two-war capability.
  Trump and Biden Administrations: Strategy documents further refined focus on peer or near-peer competition (e.g., China and Russia), moving away from the rigid 2-MRC structure. The “brush fire” idea has largely fallen away as the military now emphasizes great power competition and integrated deterrence rather than trying to be everywhere at once.
Who the fuck would we be using these stockpiles against if not Russia and China? We should be sending as much as possible to Ukraine, that's how we defend the USA now and far into the future.
- The current US president carries water for Russia. He is their thrall. He was always going to turn on Ukraine. It will get worse, but Europe is rearming and will rise to face Russia.
- Republicans want to send those arms to ICE. They want to use the military against us.
  
  Military action on US soil after 3,5 years seems quite plausible about now.
  
  We're sending war materiel, not so much (if any?) small arms.
Speculation on my part:
Patriot stocks may have been really reduced - by defending Israel during Netanyahu's adventure against Iran (it could have been smarter to tell Netanyahu not to start).
There is no reason to think that stocks of other weapons (e.g. air to ground missiles, glide bomb units for F-16) have suddenly gone really low. In fact, there is probably a f**kton of them.
Consequently, I suspect that Trump and Putin have made a deal they failed to disclose: Putin promised to refrain from helping Iran (it was an easy promise, he was really low on supplies). Trump promised in return to refrain from helping Ukraine, which he could have easily helped. At best, he got conned, at worst he got to do what he already wanted.
I would advise journalists to ask around: "has the US DoD been ordered to alter criteria for determining what is sufficient supply?" If yes, we're looking at an excuse. If no, we're looking at inability.
Both are bad, but inability can be corrected with honest admission and action, Ukraine has a bit of money from other allies to actually buy some US weapons, although they are rushing to make more domestically.
If it's not inability but an undercarpet deal, then corrections are bit harder to achieve.
- Trump implied as much as the article states.
  At the end of last week’s Nato summit, Donald Trump hinted that supplies of Patriot missile interceptors were running down because some had been supplied to Israel, though he suggested he would like to help Kyiv.
  After a meeting with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the US president acknowledged that Ukraine did “want to have the anti-missile systems, as they call the Patriots, and we’re going to see if we can make some available”.
  But Trump added: “They’re very hard to get. We need them. We were supplying them to Israel,” implying that supporting Israel in its war with Iran – a priority for the Republican administration – had set back its willingness to help Kyiv.
Horseshit. USAF doesn't need AIM-7 Sparrow or MIM-23 Hawk missiles, these aren't even in service anymore. But Ukraine can use these (Hawk missiles can be used on Buk launchers)
- They also got hawk launchers from various European countries
If it wasn't clear before, usa is pathetic
When we spend this much on the fucking military and are worried about declining stockpiles, there can be no doubt about widespread corruption.
Smart. Don't stop the enemy thousands of kilometers away. Wait till it's in your backyard to skip on delivery costs.
/s just in case
This is what people may not want to hear, but even before Trump 2.0, Pentagon did express concerns of dwindling stocks, especially if the US wants to keep China in check. It is easier to blame Trump, but this time it may not be his fault. As the article mentioned, there has been change of priorities (not that I support Israel).
- We give them so much fucking money, where is it all going? We don’t even have weapons to show for it?
  
  It is not physical money being given to Ukraine, the amount of money mentioned is the worth of already outdated military hardware being given, which would have been decommissioned in the near future anyway. And Ukraine is actually paying for this in IOU (the lend lease programme). With all things considered, helping Ukraine is bang for the buck.
  
  Turns out that giving all your money to weapon lobbies does not actually produce good value for the money.
  The US military is still using archaic tech because they have no reason to innovate.
  The last thing MIC wants is when a drone bombs a brown kid without earning a few thousand dollars from it.
- (whispers) It is his fault.
  
  The amount of supplies would have already gone critical whether or not Trump became president this term.

27 comments