July 7 (UPI) — The United States will send additional weaponry to Ukraine, the Pentagon announced late Monday, hours after President Donald Trump said they “have to” provide Ukraine with more defensive capabilities.
Though the specifics of the package were not revealed, the move by the Department of Defense and Trump’s comments appear to be an abrupt about-face by the administration, which had announced on Wednesday that it was pausing delivery of some weapons, including air defense systems, to its war-torn ally.
“We’re going to send more weapons. We have to,” Trump told reporters during a dinner at the White House with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“They have to be able to defend themselves. They’re getting hit very hard now. They’re getting hit very hard. We’re going to have to send more weapons, your defensive weapons, primarily, but they’re getting hit very, very hard. So many people are dying in that mess.
Trump, who campaigned heavily on being able to end the Ukraine-Russia war within 24 hours of returning to the White House, has been seeking to secure a cease-fire deal, while his pause of weapons deliveries to Ukraine occurred as the Kremlin was hammering its neighbor with air barrages.
The future of U.S. support was uncertain under the Trump administration, as Trump has been critical of sending weaponry to the country and is known for praising Putin.
On returning to office on Jan. 20, the administration proclaimed that an end to the war would not see Ukraine return to its old borders, an announcement that was criticized as a capitulation to Russia.
Last week when asked about the decision to halt some weaponry to Ukraine, Trump responded by blaming his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, for having “emptied out our whole country” of weapons.
“We have to have enough for ourselves,” he said.
Trump spoke with Russian leader Vladimir Putin over the phone on Thursday, after which the American president remarked he “didn’t make any progress” toward securing a potential cease-fire. The next day, Russia bombarded Ukraine with a record number of airstrikes.
The statement late Monday from the Pentagon said that at Trump’s direction, the Department of Defense is sending “additional defensive weapons to Ukraine so it can defend itself “while we work to secure a lasting peace and ensure the killing stops.”
“Our framework for POTUS to evaluate military shipments across the globe remains in effect and is integral to our America First defense priorities,” it said.
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