“We’re going to send some more weapons….We have to,” President Donald Trump told reporters on Tuesday, bringing a temporary end to a confusing week of debate about the status of U.S. military aid to Ukraine. Paused as part of a review of U.S. munitions stockpiles amid concerns about military readiness, American security assistance bound for Ukraine now seems set to resume, though it is unclear how much.
Left unanswered, however, is what really remains in U.S. arsenals after 40 months of providing weapons to Ukraine, while also supporting Israel in its long-running regional wars. And while actual numbers are classified, the truth is unlikely to be pretty. By allowing military aid to Ukraine to resume, even in reduced quantities, Trump is making the same mistake as his predecessors: assuming America can do everything, everywhere, all at once. Trump will soon be forced to make the choice he seems determined to put off: continue aid to Ukraine or ensure the U.S. military is ready to defend the country’s vital interests.
American aid to Ukraine and Israel, along with the military’s own extensive operations in the Middle East over the past two years, have severely depleted U.S. stockpiles of critical munitions. Since 2022, Washington has given over half of its Stinger missiles to Ukraine, along with hundreds of Patriot air defence interceptors, thousands of artillery rockets, and millions of rounds of ammunition. At the same time, Washington has been resourcing Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon with Hellfire missiles, anti-tank weapons, and other expensive weaponry. It has also expended large numbers of precision munitions in its campaigns against the Houthis. Most recently, the U.S. military burned still more air defence interceptors supporting Israel in its conflict with Iran.
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Events on Ukraine-Russia
