US resumes partial supply of weapons to Ukraine

The US has partially resumed arms and munition shipments to Ukraine, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing sources.

Reuters said the supplies included 155 mm artillery shells and GMLRS (mobile rocket artillery) missiles. However, the exact quantity of weapons to be supplied remains unknown, and sources were unable to specify whether the supply of other types of weapons would also resume.

Washington suspended its supply of weapons to the Armed Forces of Ukraine last week, after the White House explained it needed to assess its own reserves. The Pentagon said that the halt in deliveries was a “temporary action”, intended to enable a review of all weapons deliveries in Ukraine in order to maintain US defensive preparedness.

Within days, however, US President Donald Trump said that the US would resume sending mainly defensive weapons to Ukraine, in apparent exasperation at the unwillingness of Vladimir Putin to bring an end to the war and in the light of ever more intense Russian airstrikes on Ukrainian towns and cities.

Axios wrote on Tuesday that Trump had also promised to send 10 Patriot anti-aircraft missiles, while The Wall Street Journal said that the US was also considering transferring complete Patriot systems to Ukraine.

The Patriot air defence systems are seen as central to Kyiv’s defence capabilities. Last week, military researcher Kirill Mikhailov told Novaya Gazeta Europe that suspending the supply of Patriot missiles was “effectively an invitation to the Russian army to strike unprotected Ukrainian cities with ballistic missiles”.