US President Donald Trump has ordered the delivery of more weapons to Kyiv, days after the Department of Defense paused military shipments to Ukraine amid the ongoing Russian invasion of the country. The Pentagon confirmed the new deliveries, stating they were directed by Trump to ensure Ukraine can defend itself amid intensifying Russian attacks.

“We’re going to send some more weapons — we have to,” Trump says

Speaking on 7 July 2025 at the White House during a dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump said the United States would resume arms shipments to Ukraine, according to multiple media reports.

“We’re going to send some more weapons. We have to. They have to be able to defend themselves. They’re getting hit very hard now,” Trump told reporters. “Defensive weapons, primarily, but they’re getting hit very, very hard. So many people are dying in that mess.”

Trump also expressed clear dissatisfaction with Russian President Vladimir Putin, stating,

“I’m disappointed, frankly, that President Putin hasn’t stopped. I’m not happy with President Putin at all.”

US President Trump: We're gonna to send some more weapons to Ukraine. We have to. They have to be able to defend themselves. pic.twitter.com/TiroEZwScW

— Status-6 (Military & Conflict News) (@Archer83Able) July 8, 2025

These remarks came after a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on 4 July. According to Zelenskyy, the discussion covered Russian airstrikes and the broader front line, with the leaders agreeing to work together on strengthening Ukraine’s air defense.

“President Trump is very well-informed, and I thank him for his attention to Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said after the call.

Pentagon confirms shift: weapons to help stop the killing

Soon after Trump’s public comments, the Department of Defense issued an official statement confirming resumed military support.

“At President Trump’s direction, the Department of Defense is sending additional defensive weapons to Ukraine to ensure the Ukrainians can defend themselves while we work to secure a lasting peace and ensure the killing stops,” said Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell.

Parnell added that the framework for evaluating global military shipments “remains in effect and is integral to our America First defense priorities” — the same justification, used earlier by the Pentagon to justify the suspension of weapon supplies.

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A brief but turbulent pause in support

Trump’s promised to send more weapons to Ukraine followed a short but controversial pause in arms shipments, which had sparked backlash in Washington and among European allies. The Pentagon’s pause, initiated around 30 June, halted deliveries of air defense munitions, Patriot missile interceptors, and precision-guided artillery rounds. US officials cited concerns about allegedly declining stockpiles.

Trump had defended the pause at first, stating the US needed “to make sure we have enough for ourselves.” The White House said the decision was based on a Department of Defense review and framed it as part of the administration’s policy to prioritize US interests.

According to the New York Times and Bloomberg, the halt was ordered after a review launched by US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, following US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites. Two people familiar with the matter told the NYT that someone at the Pentagon classified weapons into categories and suspended those intended for Ukraine. Reports indicated the White House was initially unaware of the Pentagon’s decision.

Russia escalates with record air assault on Ukraine

Trump’s shift came shortly after Russia launched the largest combined drone and missile barrage of the war so far, killing at least 11 civilians and injuring over 80, including seven children, as reported by AP. The attack targeted Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities and occurred hours after Trump spoke with Putin on 3 July. Trump later told reporters he made “no progress” with the Russian leader during the call.

Similar Russian air attacks, targeting residential area in the cities far behind the frontline, occur every day. 

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Pause triggered alarm in Washington and Europe

The halt in aid led to concern that Ukraine’s defenses could be weakened at a critical moment. US lawmakers from both parties, including Republican Representatives Don Bacon and Michael McCaul and Democrat Marcy Kaptur, pushed for an investigation into how the decision was made.

According to NBC News, senior military officials assessed that continuing support to Ukraine would not reduce US stockpiles below critical readiness levels. Three officials said that the Pentagon’s Joint Staff concluded that delivering the paused munitions would not jeopardize US capabilities.

Mixed messaging and internal divisions

While the White House eventually confirmed the pause publicly through Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly, Trump had remained silent until after the Russian assault and his calls with Putin and Zelenskyy. As Atlantic Council analyst John E. Herbst noted, the policy reversal highlighted tensions between factions within the administration — with figures like Hegseth and others seen as more aligned with a “restrainer” view, skeptical of continued large-scale support to Ukraine.

Trump’s ultimate decision to resume aid aligned with the positions he had expressed at the June NATO Summit in The Hague, where he voiced support for helping Ukraine acquire more Patriot systems. Ukrainian officials said they had not received formal notice of a change in aid schedules but were tracking developments closely.

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Trump administration’s Ukraine pause exposes internal divide

The Atlantic Council’s John E. Herbst says the Pentagon’s short-lived aid pause revealed deep policy splits within Trump’s team. He noted that “administration policy on Russia and Ukraine is put together with the input of people with vastly different worldviews,” citing “restrainers” like Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and DNI Tulsi Gabbard.

Herbst suggested the pause was likely to end soon, though he warned that “restrainers are still in the game.” He contrasted the administration’s softer posture toward Russia with its assertive stance on Iran, describing it as part of a broader reluctance to challenge the Kremlin.

Looking forward

The resumption of shipments reestablishes a key supply line for Ukraine at a time of heightened Russian aggression. Though the list of weapons included in the resumed aid was not disclosed, Trump has also earlier suggested the US might sell additional Patriot missiles to Ukraine.

“They’re going to need something because they’re being hit pretty hard,” he said last week aboard Air Force One.

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The United States will resume shipping Patriot air-defense missiles to Ukraine, US Pres. Donald Trump said on Saturday. “They’re going to need them for defense,” Trump said of the missiles. “They’re going to need something because they’re being hit pretty hard.”

Trump’s comments came a few days after news broke that a top US official, potentially US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, unilaterally froze the transfer of as many as 30 Patriot missiles that were already en route to Ukraine.   

The Pentagon confirmed shipments of “defensive” weapons would resume.

Trump reversed the aid freeze one day after Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities endured one of the biggest Russian air raids in the 41 months since Russia widened its war on Ukraine. Not coincidentally, Trump spoke to Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin around the same time—a conversation Trump said left him “unhappy.” 

“He wants to go all the way, just keep killing people—it’s no good,” Trump said.

Russian forces launched 550 drones and missiles on Friday, according to the Ukrainian air force.

539 were Shahed drones. The raid also involved seven ballistic missiles and four cruise missiles. Ukrainian forces “neutralized” 478 of the munitions, the air force claimed. 268 Shaheds were shot down and another 208 flew off course, likely owing to Ukrainian radio jamming. The Ukrainians also downed two of the cruise missiles.

The ballistic missiles apparently got through, however. Those are the targets the Patriots are supposed to intercept. 

After losing some launchers and radars to Russian missiles, Ukraine still has at least seven full Patriot batteries. The PAC-2 version of the Patriot missile weighs 900 kg, ranges as far as 160 km and costs $4 million per round. The Patriot is one of the few air-defense systems in the world that can reliably shoot down incoming ballistic missiles, which might travel thousands of meters per second—too fast for less sophisticated air defenses.

The Franco-Italian SAMP/T can also hit ballistic missiles, but Ukraine has just two SAMP/T batteries. And the Eurosam consortium builds Aster missiles for the batteries at a startling low rate: just 300 or so. By contrast, US missile-maker Lockheed Martin is completing nearly 1,000 Patriots annually.

Low missile inventory

How many of those missiles made their way to Ukraine is a secret. But it’s worth noting that the single shipment Hegseth or some other official froze included 30 missiles. And Germany has, for months, been trying to scrape together the financing to replace 100 Patriots it wants to donate to Ukraine from its existing stocks, adding to the 350 or so it has already sent. 

It’s possible that, in the two years since Ukraine received its first Patriot batteries—entire batteries or parts of them have come from the United States, Germany, France, The Netherlands, Norway and Romania—the Ukrainian air force has also received around 1,000 missiles for those batteries.

The air force has fired some Patriots at Russian warplanes as part of elaborate surface-to-air ambushes, but tends to save them for strictly defensive missions swatting down ballistic missiles barreling toward Kyiv and other cities. 

It might take more than one Patriot round to intercept a single Russian missile. The Ukrainian air force claimed it shot down 22 Russian ballistic missiles in June. That may have required 50 Patriot missiles. 

The math is unforgiving. It’s possible Ukraine has already fired 1,000 Patriots—meaning it has practically no missiles in reserve. The Ukrainians launch the missiles almost as fast as they take delivery of them.

Unless and until Europe can expand production of Aster missiles or Ukraine can develop its own long-range air-defense system, the Patriots are the Ukrainians’ main defenses against the most damaging Russian munitions. When Trump said “they’re going to need them,” he wasn’t exaggerating.