The Trump administration has paused financing new arms sales to Ukraine and is now weighing a freeze on weapons shipments, the Wall Street Journal reported. The freeze would affect weapons shipments from US stockpiles, the report added. According to WSJ , the financing was paused in recent weeks, as part of the Trump administration's general freeze on foreign aid. The general pause included military aid, and exceptions for Israel and Egypt, but not for Ukraine. On Friday, the Trump administration announced that it would send Israel nearly $3 billion in weapons, including over 35,000 bombs weighing around 2,000 lbs each. WSJ quoted current officials as clarifying that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio did sign a waiver to exempt Ukraine from the ban on foreign aid, but Peter Marocco, a senior State Department official, has not sent a necessary letter to the Pentagon. The result is a "de facto" weapons embargo. There are several pathways through which Ukraine can acquire weapons from the US, but the most significant has been "presidential drawdown authority," allowing the State Department to send weapons directly from its own stockpiles. Related articles: Why Trump's Ukraine policies have US Jews worried Trump Admin. has set date for full ceasefire in Ukraine One dead in Ukrainian attack on Moscow Is Russia planning to attack another European country? The White House is meeting Monday to discuss suspending the drawdown authority shipments, two sources told WSJ . The pause began before Friday's meeting between Trump and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but Monday's meeting was born of the disagreements. Ukraine can likely continue its current pace of fighting until mid-2025. As of now, Ukraine provides around 55% of its own military hardware; 25% is provided by Europe, and the remaining 20% by the US. The current US administration has sent some of the weapons promised to Ukraine by the Biden administration; however, the last major arms package was sent on December 30, under the previous administration The State Department declined to comment.
