US halts some missile shipments to Ukraine, sparking worry in Kyiv
PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo — A Ukrainian serviceman holds a Stinger anti-aircraft missile at a position in a front line in Mykolaiv region, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, Ukraine August 11, 2022. REUTERS/Anna Kudriavtseva
By Mike Stone, Costas Pitas and Max Hunder
WASHINGTON/KYIV - A decision by Washington to halt some shipments of critical weapons to Ukraine triggered warnings in Kyiv on Wednesday that the move would weaken its ability to defend against intensifying Russian air strikes and battlefield advances.
Ukraine said it had called in the acting U.S. envoy in Kyiv to stress the importance of continuing military aid from Washington, saying any cut-off would embolden Russia as diplomatic efforts to end the war falter.
The Pentagon's pause due to concerns that U.S. stockpiles are too low came in recent days and includes precision munitions and air defence interceptors that knock down Russian drones and missiles, two people familiar with the decision said on Tuesday.
"The Ukrainian side emphasised that any delay or procrastination in supporting Ukraine's defense capabilities will only encourage the aggressor to continue the war and terror, rather than seek peace," Kyiv's foreign ministry said in a statement.
Ukraine's defence ministry said it had not been officially notified of any halt in U.S. shipments and was seeking clarity from its American counterparts.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said he understood the U.S. needs to take care of its stockpiles. "But when it comes to Ukraine, in the short term, Ukraine cannot do without all the support it can get when it gets to ammunition and to air defense systems," Rutte said in an interview Wednesday with Fox News.
Dozens of people have been killed in recent weeks during air strikes on Ukrainian cities, including the capital Kyiv, that have involved hundreds of attack drones in addition to ballistic and cruise missiles.
Russian forces, which control about a fifth of Ukraine, have also made gains in a grinding summer campaign in the east.
Since U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January, he has softened Washington's position toward Russia, seeking a diplomatic solution to the war and raising doubts about future U.S. military support for Kyiv's war effort.
Last week, Trump said he was considering selling more Patriot air defense missiles to Ukraine following a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Politico, which reported the pause on Tuesday, said it includes the critical Patriot air defence missiles which Ukraine has relied on to destroy fast-moving ballistic missiles.
Fedir Venislavskyi, a member of the Ukrainian parliament's national security and defense committee, called the decision to halt the shipments "very unpleasant for us".
"It's painful, and against the background of the terrorist attacks which Russia commits against Ukraine, it's a very unpleasant situation," he told reporters in Kyiv.
In an email, the Pentagon said it was providing Trump with options to continue military aid to Ukraine in line with the goal of ending Russia's war there.
"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," said Elbridge Colby, the undersecretary for policy.
All weapons aid was briefly paused in February with a second, longer pause in March. The Trump administration resumed sending the last of the aid approved under Biden but no new policy has been announced.
The Kremlin on Wednesday welcomed the news of a halt, saying the conflict would end sooner if fewer arms flowed to Ukraine.
CONCERN IN KYIV
Residents in the Ukrainian capital, where missile strikes on residential neighbourhoods over the past two weeks had killed more than two dozen people, expressed alarm at the Pentagon's decision.
"If we end up in a situation where there's no air defence left, I will move (out of Kyiv), because my safety is my first concern," Oksana Kurochkina, a 35-year-old lawyer told Reuters in central Kyiv.
"I am already having thoughts about moving out now."
On the battlefield, a halt in precision munitions would limit the capacity of Ukrainian troops to strike Russian positions farther behind the front line, said Jack Watling, a military analyst at the Royal United Services Institute.
"In short, this decision will cost Ukrainian lives and territory."
(Reporting by Mike Stone and Costas Pitas in Washington and Pavel Polityuk, Max Hunder and Anna Voitenko in Kyiv and Tom Balmforth in London; Writing by Dan Peleschuk; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel, Chris Reese, Clarence Fernandez, Alex Richardson, Alexandra Hudson // REUTERS)
