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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered a pause in sending a shipment of missiles and ammunition to Ukraine amid concern about the U.S. military’s stockpiles, according to two defense officials, two congressional officials and two sources with knowledge of the decision.

Hegseth ordered the delay weeks after he issued a memo ordering a review of the U.S. stockpile of munitions, which has been depleted after years of the United States’ sending weapons to Ukraine to defend against the Russia invasion, as well as nearly two years of military operations in the Middle East as the United States fought Houthi rebels in Yemen and defended Israel and allies against Iran, four of the officials said.

The munitions and other weapons could be held up until the assessment is complete, the two defense officials and two congressional officials said, and if the munitions are in short supply or needed in other parts of the world, they could be held back even longer.

The weapons being delayed include dozens of Patriot interceptors that can defend against incoming Russian missiles, thousands of 155 mm high explosive Howitzer munitions, more than 100 Hellfire missiles, more than 250 precision-guided missile systems known as GMLRS and dozens each of Stinger surface-to-air missiles, AIM air-to-air missiles and grenade launchers, the two defense officials, two congressional officials and two sources with knowledge of the decision said.

White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said: “This decision was made to put America’s interests first following a DOD review of our nation’s military support and assistance to other countries across the globe. The strength of the United States Armed Forces remains unquestioned — just ask Iran." The Defense Department did not respond to a request for comment.

At a closing news conference after a NATO meeting at The Hague last week, President Donald Trump said the United States is trying to find Patriot air defense missiles to send to Ukraine.

“They do want to have the anti-missile missiles,” Trump said of Ukraine. “As they call them the Patriots, and we’re going to see if we can make some available.” He said that the United States is supplying weapons to Israel and that “you know, they’re very hard to get. We need them, too.”

A senior Ukrainian lawmaker on Wednesday called the Pentagon's decision “painful” for Kyiv’s effort to defend itself against Russian air strikes.

“This decision is certainly very unpleasant for us,” Fedir Venislavskyi, a member of the Ukrainian parliament’s defense committee, said in Kyiv, according to Reuters.

He added, “it’s painful, and against the background of the terrorist attacks which Russia commits against Ukraine ... it’s a very unpleasant situation.”

Ukraine’s foreign ministry also met with John Ginkel, a U.S. diplomat based in Kyiv, to discuss military assistance and defense cooperation between with two countries.

“It was stressed that any delays or hesitation in supporting Ukraine’s defense capacities would only encourage the aggressor to continue the war and terror, rather than seek peace,” the ministry said in a statement.

Ukraine has repeatedly appealed for additional U.S. and European air defense weaponry as Russia has stepped up its air raids in recent months. Over the weekend, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said Russia had launched the largest aerial attack on the country since Moscow’s full-scale invasion in 2022, firing 60 missiles and 477 drones.

Trump and his Republican allies in Congress are also working to secure a permanent ceasefire. Though it’s common for new administrations to pause weapons transfers to assess stockpiles, there are concerns about the moment in which this is happening, according to an official with knowledge of the situation. The official said Ukraine needs to appear strong to get Russia to the negotiating table.

During a visit to Washington on June 5, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s top adviser, Andriy Yermak, told reporters that his country was holding off Russian forces but needed more air defense systems to safeguard its cities from Russian attacks.

The Defense Department held up a shipment of U.S. weapons for Ukraine this week over what officials said were concerns about its low stockpiles. But an analysis by senior military officers found that the aid package would not jeopardize the American military’s own ammunition supplies, according to three U.S. officials.

The move to halt the weapons shipment blindsided the State Department, members of Congress, officials in Kyiv and European allies, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the matter.

Critics of the decision included Republicans and Democrats who support aiding Ukraine’s fight against Russia. A leading House Democrat, Adam Smith of Washington, said it was disingenuous of the Pentagon to use military readiness to justify halting aid when the real reason appears to be simply to pursue an agenda of cutting off American aid to Ukraine.

We are not at any lower point, stockpile-wise, than we’ve been in the 3½ years of the Ukraine conflict,” Smith, the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, told NBC News.

Smith said that his staff has “seen the numbers” and, without going into detail, that there was no indication of a shortage that would justify suspending aid to Ukraine.

Suspending the shipment of military aid to Ukraine was a unilateral step by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, according to three congressional aides and a former U.S. official familiar with the matter. It was the third time Hegseth on his own has stopped shipments of aid to Ukraine, the sources said. In the two previous cases, in February and in May, his actions were reversed days later.

senior Pentagon official, Elbridge Colby, the undersecretary of defense for policy, has backed the moves, the sources said. Colby has long advocated scaling back the U.S. commitment in Ukraine and shifting weapons and resources to the Pacific region to counter China.

Lawmakers from both parties were frustrated that they were not notified in advance and were examining whether the delayed shipment violated legislation mandating security assistance for Ukraine, according to congressional aides. Those lawmakers and some European allies were trying to determine just why the Pentagon ordered the suspension and were scrambling to get it reversed.

The White House has defended the decision, saying it followed an ongoing review by the Defense Department of U.S. assistance to allies and partners abroad that began last month.

The review began after Hegseth issued a memo ordering the Pentagon’s Joint Staff to review stockpiles of all munitions. According to three officials familiar with the matter, the assessment found that some stockpiles of high-precision munitions were at lower levels but not yet beyond critical minimums.

The Joint Staff concluded that providing continued assistance to Ukraine would not drain U.S. supplies below a required threshold needed to ensure military readiness, the officials said.

The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell called the assessment a “capability review" at a briefing Wednesday.

“We can’t give weapons to everybody all around the world,” Parnell said. “Part of our job is to give the president a framework that he can use to evaluate how many munitions we have where we’re sending them. And that review process is happening right now and is ongoing.”

Ukraine has issued urgent appeals to Washington for more air defense systems as Russia has stepped up its bombardment of Ukrainian cities. Over the weekend, Russia launched its biggest aerial attack of the three-year-old conflict, firing 60 missiles and 477 drones across the country.

The delayed shipment included dozens of Patriot interceptors, coveted weapons for Ukraine to knock out incoming missiles, as well as 155 mm artillery rounds, Hellfire missiles, precision-guided missile systems known as GMLRS, grenade launchers, Stinger surface-to-air missiles and AIM air-to-air missiles for Ukraine’s small fleet of F-16 fighter jets.

In Poland and other European countries, some of the U.S. weapons had already been loaded onto trucks, ready to be delivered to Kyiv to help its government fend off Russian missile attacks and hold the line against ground forces in the country’s east. Then, military officers and officials handling the shipment got word that the delivery had been called off, said two sources with knowledge of the matter.

The weapons shipment was approved during the Biden administration, three U.S. officials said. Some of the weapons were pulled from U.S. stockpiles, with the Pentagon receiving funds to replenish them. Other munitions fall under a program that provides money to buy new weapons for Ukraine from American defense companies, the officials said. Those weapons are not drawn from U.S. supplies.

‘Rookie mistake’
Since the United States began sending large shipments of weapons to Kyiv after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, U.S. officials and commanders have grown concerned about the state of American stockpiles of munitions and other equipment.

The aid effort has laid bare the inadequacy of the defense industrial base to replenish those weapons stocks. That has, in some cases, put the Pentagon at dangerously low levels of some munitions, including 155 mm artillery rounds, according to multiple U.S. officials and former military officers.

In a letter to President Donald Trump, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., requested an emergency briefing from the White House and the Defense Department to review the decision “to withhold urgent, lifesaving military assistance to Ukraine.”

He argued that it was possible to both maintain adequate weapons supplies for the U.S. military and send arms badly needed by Kyiv.

Dan Caldwell, a former senior Pentagon official, defended the pause by Hegseth and Colby.

"They are prioritizing the safety and readiness of our own military over pleasing the foreign policy establishment, who often seem in denial about the real constraints the United States military is facing," Caldwell said.

Hegseth has twice before suspended aid to Ukraine without apparent coordination with lawmakers on Capitol Hill or even within the administration. The first time, in February, drew a prickly response from the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Roger Wicker, R-Miss., who called the move “a rookie mistake.”

President Donald Trump’s decision to send more defensive weapons to Ukraine came after he privately expressed frustration with Pentagon officials for announcing a pause in some deliveries last week — a move that he felt wasn’t properly coordinated with the White House, according to three people familiar with the matter.

The Pentagon, which announced last week that it would hold back some air defense missiles, precision-guided artillery and other weapons pledged to Ukraine because of what U.S. officials said were concerns that American stockpiles were in short supply. Trump said Monday that the U.S. will have to send more weapons to Ukraine, effectively reversing the move.

Two of the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity about the sensitive internal discussions, said there was some internal opposition among Pentagon brass to the pause — coordinated by Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby — before it was announced.

One of the people described Trump as being caught “flat footed” by the announcement. The White House did not respond to queries about whether Trump was surprised by the Pentagon pause.

Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson denied that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had acted without consulting the president.

The pause in critical weapons deliveries had come at a difficult moment for Ukraine, which has faced increasing — and more complex — air barrages from Russia during the more than three-year-old war. Trump acknowledged that in announcing the reversal on Monday night, saying, “They have to be able to defend themselves. They’re getting hit very hard now.”

Trump’s change in tone on Putin
The president also laid into Russian President Vladimir Putin, suggesting he was unnecessarily prolonging the war that Trump has said he’s determined to quickly conclude. Trump has struggled to find a resolution, with talks between the sides stalled.

The Republican leader has sounded increasingly exasperated with Putin in recent days. The two spoke by phone last week.

“We get a lot of bull---- thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth,” Trump said during Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting. “He’s very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless.”

He has threatened, but held off on, imposing new sanctions against Russia’s oil industry to try to prod Putin into peace talks.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said last week that Trump has given him the go-ahead to push forward with a bill he’s co-sponsoring that calls, in part, for a 500% tariff on goods imported from countries that continue to buy Russian oil. The move would have huge ramifications for China and India, two economic behemoths that buy Russian oil.

Trump said Tuesday that he’s “looking at it very strongly.”

Pentagon says it’s going to resume shipments to Ukraine
The weapons pause announced last week impacted shipments of Patriot missiles, precision-guided GMLRS, Hellfire missiles and Howitzer rounds and more, taking not only Ukrainian officials and other allies by surprise but also U.S. lawmakers and other parts of the Trump administration, including the State Department.

The Pentagon said late Monday that at Trump’s direction, it would resume weapons shipments to Ukraine “to ensure the Ukrainians can defend themselves while we work to secure a lasting peace and ensure the killing stops.” Still, spokesman Sean Parnell added that its review for Trump to evaluate military shipments worldwide continues as part of “America First” defense priorities.

It’s also unclear which weaponry would now be sent, though Trump said that the U.S. will primarily be assisting Ukraine with defensive weapons.

Counting the weapons
On Tuesday, each of the services and the combatant commands — the multiservice organizations that spearhead U.S. military operations around the world — were still sending up information on their stockpiles of specific munitions to Pentagon leadership, a U.S. official said.

“They are literally still doing the math,” the official said.

The information was being presented on a stoplight chart — where munitions were either in a red, yellow or green status, similar to slides that had been created the week before, the official said. That earlier study had concluded that some munitions were OK to keep sending to Ukraine — but others were reaching concerning levels.

Getting a full visibility on the numbers of actual munitions on hand takes time, the official said, because while Patriot missiles, for example, initially belong to the Army, once they are requested and sent to a combatant command, such as U.S. Central Command, the service loses visibility on those numbers in inventory.

The vast majority of the munitions and weapons the U.S. has shipped to Ukraine have been pulled from the Army, which has monitored levels closely in recent years, particularly for high-demand items like 155mm artillery shells and Patriot missiles for air defenses.

It’s been harder for the Army to ramp up production on those items than had been planned: It was trying to hit a goal of producing 100,000 155mm shells a month by the end of 2025 but won’t meet that goal now until 2026, Army spokesman Steve Warren said.

Ramping up Patriot missile production also has been challenging, Warren said.

Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in a statement Tuesday that he was glad Trump was resuming deliveries to Ukraine.

“This time, the President will need to reject calls from the isolationists and restrainers within his Administration to limit these deliveries to defensive weapons,” McConnell said. “And he should disregard those at DoD who invoke munitions shortages to block aid while refusing to invest seriously in expanding munitions production.”

Hundreds of Russian drones flying from all directions attacked Kyiv overnight into Thursday in an apparent new Russian tactic, marking a second consecutive night of ferocious attacks on Ukraine.

At least two people were killed, including a 22-year-old police officer who was named by authorities as Maria Dziumaha, and more than a dozen were wounded in the attacks, according to authorities.

CNN staff on the ground in Kyiv witnessed massive, fiery explosions that illuminated the night sky. Smoke filled the air, creating a burning smell and obscuring the visibility in the city center.

Russia has been intensifying its aerial attacks against Ukraine in recent weeks, but the assault on Thursday appeared to mark a change in approach from Moscow.

Russia launched 400 drones and 18 missiles, including eight ballistic and six cruise missiles, according to a telegram post from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

They were flying at different altitudes, and attacking from all directions — with some of the drones initially bypassing the capital before abruptly changing direction and speeding back towards the city.

While Kyiv has previously experienced attacks from multiple directions, as Russian drones attempted to bypass the city’s air defenses, the assault on Thursday saw the drones launching towards the city simultaneously, effectively encircling Kyiv before attacking.

This made guarding the capital’s skies even more challenging for the strained Ukrainian air defences. Yet the Ukrainian Air Force said it shot down or disabled 382 of the 415 aerial weapons Russia launched at the country overnight, including all of the ballistic and cruise missiles. That is a stunning success given the scale of the attack, especially given Ukraine’s limited access to air defense systems.

As terrifying as the night was for Kyiv’s residents, these massive aerial attacks have become the new normal for Ukrainian civilians.

Just on Wednesday, Russia conducted its largest drone assault since the start of its full-scale invasion, launching 728 drones and 13 missiles in strikes that killed at least one person, according to Ukrainian officials.

The damage from the latest offensive attacks appeared to be substantial.

The Russian Defense Ministry said Thursday that it was targetting “Ukrainian military-industrial complex enterprises in Kyiv and military airfield infrastructure.”

But houses and residential buildings, cars, warehouse facilities, offices and other buildings across the city were damaged and caught fire, according to city authorities.

A health care clinic was almost completely destroyed in the strikes, Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko said.