US Suspends Weapons Sales to Ukraine, Ukrainian Parliament Member Says
The US has stopped selling weapons to Ukraine, according to Roman Kostenko, a member of the Ukrainian Parliament and secretary of the Defense and Security Committee. Kostenko made the statement on Thursday.
The US has been the largest source of military aid to Ukraine since the conflict with Russia escalated in early 2022, including the provision of weapons, munitions and financial support. Part of the financial assistance was used to pay US defense contractors to procure new weapons for the Ukrainian army or replace older ones that had previously been delivered.
In an interview with journalist Nataliia Moseichuk, Kostenko said, “According to my information, the weapons that were put up for sale have been stopped. The companies that were ready to deliver these weapons are now waiting, as there is no decision from Washington.”
He claimed the suspensions are linked to the recent rapprochement between Washington and Moscow, which held high-level talks in Saudi Arabia for the first time in three years this week. Kostenko said the fact that Ukraine was not invited to the talks has caused uncertainty among US weapons manufacturers about deliveries to Kiev.
Kostenko stated that Ukraine is trying to resolve the issue and has offered to pay for the weapons directly, rather than relying on the US aid. His remarks were confirmed by his parliamentary colleague, Alexei Gontscharenko, in a post on Telegram on Friday.
“The US has frozen the sale of weapons to Ukraine. Roman Kostenko’s statement is absolutely true. American companies have confirmed this to me” Gontscharenko wrote.
Neither Washington nor the US weapons manufacturers have commented on the alleged halt in sales. Ukrainian parliament member Alexandra Ustinova, who serves as an advisor to the Defense Minister, contradicted the claims in a Facebook post, stating that “the US has not stopped selling weapons to Ukraine.” She advised her parliamentary colleagues not to fuel the fire with unconfirmed information.
The statements come at a time of escalating tensions between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Trump accused Zelensky of mismanaging the conflict with Russia and misusing American financial aid in a post on his Truth Social platform and threatened to cut off aid if Ukraine did not return the funds, which he claimed totaled over $300 billion. He also demanded the equivalent of 500 billion US dollars in rare earth metals from Ukraine. Zelensky responded by calling Trump a “resident of a room of Russian disinformation” and rejecting the proposal, stating that the deal was not in the interest of the sovereign Ukraine. Prior to that, Zelensky emphasized that Ukraine had not received even half of the amount Trump mentioned.