American weapons shipments heading for Ukraine briefly stopped at the start of February, Reuters reported at the time.<\/p>\n
The news agency then reported on Tuesday that Hegseth’s office had given a verbal order to stop 11 flights carrying weapons and supplies bound for Ukraine shortly after the Trump administration took office.<\/p>\n
Why It Matters<\/h2>\n
Kyiv is deeply reliant on Washington for military supplies funneled to the front lines, although less dependent on the U.S. now than in the initial months of Russia’s full-scale invasion from February 2022. The outgoing Biden administration announced nearly $1 billion in aid for Ukraine in December, which is still being sent to the war-torn country.<\/p>\n Trump was not aware of Hegseth’s order, nor were senior national security officials present at a meeting in the Oval Office with the president on January 30 that included Hegseth, according to anonymous sources speaking to the outlet.<\/p>\n The idea of halting aid to Ukraine came up during the meeting, but Trump did not issue an order to stop the assistance, two people with knowledge of the matter told the news agency.<\/p>\n It is not clear when the order was given, but two sources told Reuters that Ukrainian and European officials started to query the pause on February 2, with records indicating flights had resumed by February 5.<\/p>\n Ukraine struggled to get clear information from the administration, despite reaching out through “multiple channels,” said a Ukrainian official with direct knowledge of the situation.<\/p>\n “It’s a mess,” Oleksandr Merezhko, the chair of Ukraine’s parliamentary foreign affairs committee, told\u00a0Newsweek<\/em>\u00a0on Wednesday.<\/p>\n There appears to be a “serious communication gap” in the administration, Merezhko said, adding: “It’s scary, simply speaking.”<\/p>\n The Pentagon referred queries to the White House. White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, told Reuters that Hegseth had followed a Trump directive to pause aid heading for Ukraine. She said the administration would not “detail every conversation among top administration officials throughout the process” of attempting to end the war.<\/p>\n Hegseth’s time at the helm of the Defense Department has been plagued with tales of infighting and increasing calls for his dismissal at a moment when the world watches on closely at how Trump’s administration is steering defense policy.<\/p>\n Hegseth has blamed “disgruntled former employees” and “leakers.”<\/p>\n Four anonymous sources briefed on the situation told Reuters that a small group of Pentagon staffers who had historically opposed U.S. aid to Ukraine but never held a job in government had told Hegseth to consider pressing pause on aid deliveries.<\/p>\n The U.S. officially halted military aid for Ukraine in early March, cutting off Kyiv’s access to American-derived intelligence in an apparent effort to force Ukraine to negotiate on a ceasefire deal.<\/p>\n The abrupt stop of intelligence-sharing and fresh military supplies came as Ukraine grappled to hold onto a chunk of Russian territory in the country’s Kursk region, into which Kyiv launched a surprise incursion last summer. The move into Kursk was designed to pull Russian resources from Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, and offer up a bargaining chip to the Ukrainians for future peace talks.<\/p>\n Russia peeled back Ukraine’s grip in Kursk as the military aid and intelligence-sharing paused.<\/p>\n Ukrainian President\u00a0Volodymyr Zelensky<\/a>\u00a0said<\/strong>\u00a0the suspension of U.S. aid did not influence Ukraine’s operations in Kursk.<\/p>\n![\"Trump](\"https:\/\/d.newsweek.com\/en\/full\/2639905\/trump-hegseth.jpg?w=1200&f=4d698dc8d0e06e90dfa91df72fba3822\")
<\/picture><\/div>What To Know<\/h2>\n
What People Are Saying<\/h2>\n