The United States briefly stopped shipping weapons to Ukraine as the new White House administration debated its policies toward Kyiv, Reuters reported on Feb. 3, citing four sources familiar with the matter.
U.S. President Donald Trump took office on Jan. 20, upending U.S. foreign policy with freezes on international development funds and promises to swiftly end the war in Ukraine.
The Trump administration was initially inclined to stop all aid to Ukraine, but arms deliveries resumed over the weekend following internal discussion, two of the sources told Reuters.
Opposing factions within the administration are debating whether the U.S. should continue providing weapons, a U.S. official said.
The Kyiv Independent could not verify these reports.
Trump signed an executive order on the first day of his term freezing foreign aid funding for 90 days. The order disrupts NGOs doing vital infrastructure and humanitarian aid projects in Ukraine, but Ukrainian officials assured the freeze did not affect weapons deliveries.
Trump told reporters on Feb. 3 that the U.S. is looking to strike a deal with Kyiv that would provide continued aid in exchange for Ukrainian rare earth elements.
"We're looking to do a deal with Ukraine, where they're going to secure what we're giving them with their rare earths and other things," he said.
The New York Times reported in December that Ukrainian authorities postponed signing an agreement with the U.S. on extracting rare earth minerals in order to let Trump take credit for the deal after his inauguration.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged the U.S. to continue shipping arms to Ukraine as a security guarantee that would strengthen Kyiv's position in future peace negotiations with Russia.
The U.S. has provided Ukraine with $65.9 billion in military aid since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Kateryna Hodunova
(Updated: )
