The Trump administration could finally be willing to bring real pressure to bear on the Zelensky government, as on Tuesday the White House confirmed that it its halting some weapons shipments to Ukraine.
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told CBS News that in the context of the Russia-Ukraine war the "decision was made to put America's interests first following" a Defense Department "review of our nation's military support and assistance to other countries across the globe."
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This comes after many reports over the last couple years sounding the alarm that US military stockpiles are falling too low, and that they will continue to be depleted based on past Ukraine policy.
While it's unknown precisely which weapons will be halted, or in what quanitites, Kelly asserted that "The strength of the United States Armed Forces remains unquestioned — just ask Iran."
However, we should note that the massive B-2 bomber raids sent against Iran's nuclear facilities was widely questioned among the US public for not exactly being 'America first'. Instead it appeared to prioritize the defense of Israel first.
Still, all the usual 'options' are on the table, we are assured by the Pentagon:
Elbridge Colby, Defense Department under secretary for policy, said in a separate statement Tuesday night in response to the move that the "Department of Defense continues to provide the President with robust options to continue military aid to Ukraine, consistent with his goal of bringing this tragic war to an end. At the same time, the Department is rigorously examining and adapting its approach to achieving this objective while also preserving U.S. forces' readiness for Administration defense priorities."
A potential draw down or limitation of arms sent to Ukraine is likely also driven by the reality that the battlefield hasn't changed substantially due to Washington and US-taxpayer funded assistance.
If anything the Russians keep advancing, now with an eye on Sumy and expanding the Putin-ordered buffer zone. Ukrainian sources say that that Russian forces have successfully expanded their occupation.
DeepState, a Ukrainian group of military analysts, has freshly written, "The trend from May, unfortunately, continued in June. As a reminder, during the most critical month for us – November – the Russians advanced by 730 sq km.
"The largest advances were recorded on the Novopavlivka and Pokrovsk fronts – 29% and 27% respectively. Sumy Oblast also ranks among the top with 18%. This means three-quarters of all advances took place in just three areas," the group said. "The remaining quarter is distributed almost evenly across other sectors of the front (4–6% per sector)."
Is Trump getting serious about a drastic shift in Ukraine policy this time?
Not a spicy viral clip, but Rubio gave some highly clarifying remarks at his Senate hearing this week. He confirms that not a single sanction against Russia has been lifted, and US arms continue to flow to Ukraine. So in other words, these Biden Admin policies continue unchanged pic.twitter.com/PhbSR2oXFB
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) May 22, 2025
Meanwhile, there hasn't been progress on the peace negotiation front. But this could change if Kiev begins running woefully low on US weapons, or sees a halt altogether, creating a new urgent incentive to possibly make territorial concessions at the negotiating table. But it remains that the Europeans have been consistently seeking to step up their support of late.
