Trump says US must send more weapons to Ukraine, days after ordering
pause in deliveries
[July 08, 2025]
By ILLIA NOVIKOV and AAMER MADHANI
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Monday the U.S. will have
to send more weapons to Ukraine, just days after ordering a pause in
critical weapons deliveries to Kyiv.
The comments by Trump appeared to be an abrupt change in posture after
the Pentagon announced last week that it would hold back delivering to
Ukraine some air defense missiles, precision-guided artillery and other
weapons because of what U.S. officials said were concerns that
stockpiles have declined too much.
“We have to," Trump said. ”They have to be able to defend themselves.
They’re getting hit very hard now. We’re going to send some more weapons
— defensive weapons primarily."
The pause 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-long war. Russian attacks on Ukraine killed at least 11
civilians and injured more than 80 others, including seven children,
officials said Monday.
The US turnaround on weapons for Ukraine
The move last week to abruptly pause shipments of Patriot missiles,
precision-guided GMLRS, Hellfire missiles and Howitzer rounds and
weaponry took Ukrainian officials and other allies by surprise.
The Pentagon affirmed 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 framework
for Trump to evaluate military shipments worldwide continues as part of
“America First” defense priorities.
Trump, speaking at the start of a dinner he was hosting for Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday, vented
his growing frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump has
struggled to find a resolution to the war in Ukraine but maintains he’s
determined to quickly conclude a conflict that he had promised as
candidate to end of Day One of his second term.
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.
“I’m not happy with President Putin at all," Trump said Monday.
Russia's transport minister is found dead
Separately, Russia’s transport minister was found dead in what
authorities said was an apparent suicide — news that broke hours after
the Kremlin announced he had been dismissed by Putin.
The firing of Roman Starovoit followed a weekend of travel chaos —
airports grounded hundreds of flights due to the threat of drone attacks
from Ukraine. Russian officials did not give a reason for his dismissal.
Hundreds of flights were canceled or delayed at airports in Moscow and
St. Petersburg, but Russian commentators said the air traffic
disruptions have become customary amid frequent Ukrainian drone raids
and were unlikely to have triggered his dismissal.
Starovoit, 53, served as Russia’s transport minister since May 2024.
Russian media have reported that his dismissal could have been linked to
an investigation into the embezzlement of state funds allocated for
building fortifications in the Kursk region, where he served as governor
before being appointed transportation minister.
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President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Israel's Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Blue Room of the White House,
Monday, July 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
The alleged embezzlement has been cited as one of the reasons for
deficiencies in Russia’s defensive lines that failed to stem a
surprise Ukrainian incursion in the region launched in August 2024.
Russia fired more than 100 drones at civilian areas of Ukraine
overnight, authorities said.
Russia recently has intensified its airstrikes on civilian areas. In
the past week, Russia launched some 1,270 drones, 39 missiles and
almost 1,000 powerful glide bombs at Ukraine, Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday.
Russia’s bigger army also is trying hard to break through at some
points along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620 miles) front line,
where Ukrainian forces are severely stretched.
Ukraine calls for more military aid
The strain of keeping Russia’s invasion at bay, the lack of progress
in direct peace talks and last week’s halt of some promised U.S.
weapons shipments have compelled Ukraine to seek more military help
from the U.S. and Europe.
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said Monday that the pause
in weapons to Ukraine came as part of a “standard review of all
weapons and all aid” that the U.S. “is providing all countries and
all regions around the world. Not just Ukraine.”
Leavitt said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the global
review to ensure that “everything that’s going out the door aligns
with America’s interests.”
Zelenskyy says Ukraine has signed deals with European allies and a
leading U.S. defense company to step up drone production, ensuring
Kyiv receives “hundreds of thousands” more this year.
“Air defense is the main thing for protecting life,” Zelenskyy wrote
Monday on Telegram.
That includes developing and manufacturing interceptor drones that
can stop Russia’s long-range Shahed drones, he said.
Extensive use of drones also has helped Ukraine compensate for its
troop shortages on the front line.
One person was killed in the southern city of Odesa, another person
was killed and 71 were injured in northeastern Kharkiv, and falling
drone debris caused damage in two districts of Kyiv, the capital,
during nighttime drone attacks, Ukrainian authorities said.
Russian short-range drones also killed two people and injured two
others in the northern Sumy region, officials said. Sumy is one of
the places where Russia has concentrated large numbers of troops.
Also, nine people were injured and seven killed in the Donetsk
region of eastern Ukraine, regional head Vadym Filashkin said.
More Russian long-range drone strikes Monday targeted military
mobilization centers for the third time in five days, in an apparent
attempt to disrupt recruitment, Ukraine’s Army Ground Forces command
said.
Regional officials in Kharkiv and southern Zaporizhzhia said at
least 17 people were injured.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry said Monday that its troops
shot down 91 Ukrainian drones in 13 Russian regions overnight, as
well as over the Black Sea and the Crimean Peninsula, which was
illegally annexed by Russia in 2014.
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Associated Press writer Katie Marie Davies in Manchester, England,
contributed to this report.
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