U.S. stops some arms shipments to Ukraine as Kyiv expresses disappointment
Those plans come at what appears to be a key point in the all-out war launched by Moscow nearly three-and-a-half years ago. A renewed Russian push to capture more Ukrainian land has put Ukraine's short-handed defenses under severe strain, and Russian missiles and drones are battering Ukrainian cities. U.S.-led diplomatic efforts to find a peace settlement, meanwhile, have stalled.
As Washington has distanced itself under U.S. President Donald Trump from Ukraine's war efforts, a bigger onus has fallen on European countries to pressure Russia.
French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday held their first direct telephone call in almost three years. Macron's office said that during their two-hour conversation, the French leader underlined France's 'unwavering support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity' and called for a ceasefire.
Story continues below advertisement
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that officials are preparing with a sense of urgency for upcoming meetings with European Union countries and other partners to talk about cooperation in weapons manufacturing.
'One of the key topics will be weapons production – our joint investments, joint projects,' Zelenskyy said in his daily address on Tuesday evening.
Defense Minister Rustem Umerov announced that draft legislation on joint weapons production with international allies is expected to be put to a vote in the Ukrainian parliament later this month. The proposed laws were shown to national defense companies on Tuesday, Umerov said.
1:46
Trump says Putin 'has to end' Russia-Ukraine war
The program includes plans to create a special legal and tax framework to help Ukrainian defense manufacturers scale up and modernize production, including building new facilities at home and abroad, according to Umerov.
Story continues below advertisement
Earlier this week, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said during a visit to Kyiv that Germany aims to help Ukraine manufacture more weapons more quickly. He was accompanied on the trip by German defense industry representatives.
Get breaking National news
For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy
The U.S. is halting some weapons deliveries to Ukraine out of concern that its own stockpiles have declined too far, officials said Tuesday. Certain munitions were longer-term commitments promised to Ukraine under the Biden administration, though the Defense Department didn't provide details on what specific weapons were being held back.
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry summoned the U.S. chargé d'affaires, John Hinkel, on Wednesday to discuss ongoing defense cooperation.
Deputy Foreign Minister Maryana Betsa thanked the U.S. for its continued support, but emphasized the 'critical importance' of maintaining previously allocated defense packages, especially for bolstering Ukraine's air defense.
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.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the Pentagon's decision will help bring a settlement closer, because 'the fewer weapons supplied to Ukraine, the closer the end of the (war) is.'
Story continues below advertisement
3:02
Putin says 'the whole of Ukraine is ours' in theory, may take city of Sumy
The United States has been Ukraine's biggest military backer since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of its neighbor on Feb. 24, 2022. Under Trump, there have been no new announcements of U.S. military or weapons aid to Ukraine.
Between March and April, the United States allocated no new aid to Ukraine, according to Germany's Kiel Institute, which tracks such support.
For the first time since June 2022, European countries surpassed the U.S. in total military aid, totaling 72 billion euros ($85 billion) compared with 65 billion euros ($77 billion) from the U.S., the institute said last month.
Washington's latest decision could remove some of the most formidable weapons in Ukraine's battlefield arsenal.
Analysts say Ukraine's European allies can fill some of the gaps and provide artillery systems. But they don't possess alternatives to the U.S.-made HIMARS missiles and air defense systems, especially Patriots, which are crucial to help defend Ukrainian cities from Russian air attacks.
Story continues below advertisement
It's not clear how much weaponry Ukraine possesses or what its most urgent needs are.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Ottawa Citizen
an hour ago
- Ottawa Citizen
Braid: Calgary Stampede Parade was a classic — and a great message to U.S. visitors
Can't help it, sorry, but over three decades of watching the Calgary Stampede Parade I've not just been entertained every year, but often deeply moved. Article content It's so purely, utterly, sweetly, cornily Canadian. Article content Article content That means more than ever in this first Stampede of the Donald Trump era. Article content All of Canada was on proud display Friday — First Nations, dozens of ethnic Canadian groups, the Flames, the military, the veterans — together in one long, serpentine display of pride and goodwill. Article content Article content Many of the displays by ethnic groups (if that's even the right word anymore) carried messages of strength in diversity. Article content The real world isn't always like that, obviously. But the Canadian dream endures. We do believe that people of many origins can co-exist and thrive in one nation. Article content It's ironic that this Stampede opening fell on July 4, U.S. Independence Day. Article content Americans have always been welcome at Stampede. More than 40,000 came last year. They are almost universally friendly, cheerful folks who are blown away by the Stampede, especially the Grandstand Show. Article content Article content Many Americans are now reading about some of it in Rick Atkinson's book, The Fate of the Day, the second volume in his majestic series on the Revolutionary War, the great conflict with Britain over U.S. Independence. Article content The new American nation and Canada (such as it was in the late 1770s) were bitter enemies. Article content The Americans attacked Quebec and were driven off. The loathed British force plaguing the American rebels from the north was called the Canadian Army. Article content That war was an orgy of slaughter, burned cities and devastated countryside. The ancient guns and cannons may look quaint in this age of military drones, but they were viciously effective. Few wars were more deadly until the Americans' own Civil War in the 1860s. Article content It's very admirable, therefore, that we've long since become two great and very large nations sharing a continent in relative harmony, and always in peace.
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
Hamas says it's given 'positive' response to latest ceasefire proposal
Hamas says it has given a "positive" response to the latest proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza but said further talks were needed on implementation. It was not clear if Hamas's statement meant it had accepted the proposal from U.S. President Donald Trump for a 60-day ceasefire. The militant group has been seeking guarantees that the initial truce with Israel would lead to a total end to the war, now nearly 21 months old. In a statement issued late Friday, Hamas said it has "delivered the response to the mediators, which was positive." "The movement is ready in all seriousness to enter immediately into a round of negotiations on the mechanism to implement this framework," it said, without elaborating. Meanwhile, the United Nations human rights office says it has recorded 613 Palestinians killed within the span of a month in Gaza while trying to obtain aid. Most were killed while trying to reach food distribution points run by an Israeli-backed American organization, while others were massed waiting for aid trucks connected to the UN or other humanitarian organizations, it said. WATCH | Aid organizations call for immediate change in Gaza: Palestinians caught between starvation and danger at aid sites 3 days ago Duration 2:07 Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said the rights office was not able to attribute responsibility for the killings. But she said "it is clear that the Israeli military has shelled and shot at Palestinians trying to reach the distribution points" operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). In a message to The Associated Press, Shamdasani said that of the total tallied, 509 killings were "GHF-related," meaning at or near its distribution sites. "Information keeps coming in," she said. "This is ongoing and it is unacceptable." The GHF has denied any serious injuries or deaths on its sites and says shootings outside their immediate vicinity are under the purview of Israel's military. In a statement on Friday, GHF cast doubt on the casualty figures and accused the UN of trying "to falsely smear our effort." The army says it fires warnings shots as a crowd-control measure or opens fire if its troops are threatened. The Israeli military also issued new evacuation orders on Friday in northeast Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, and urged Palestinians to move west ahead of planned military operations against Hamas in the area. The new evacuation zones pushed Palestinians into increasingly smaller spaces by the coast. 20 people killed Friday while seeking aid Since the GHF began distributions in late May, witnesses have said almost daily that Israeli troops open fire toward crowds of Palestinians on the roads leading to the food centres. To reach the sites, people must walk several kilometres through an Israeli military zone where troops control the road. Officials at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis said at least three Palestinians were killed on Friday on the way to GHF sites in the area of Rafah, in southern Gaza. On Friday, in reaction to the UN report, the Israeli military said it was investigating reports of people killed and wounded while seeking aid and that it had given instructions to troops in the field based on "lessons learned" from reviewing the incidents. It said it was working at "minimizing possible friction between the population" and Israeli forces, including by installing fences and placing signs on the routes. Separately, witnesses have said Israeli troops open fire on crowds of Palestinians who gather in military-controlled zones to wait for aid trucks entering Gaza for the UN or other aid organizations not associated with the GHF. The crowds are usually made up of people desperate for food who grab supplies off the passing trucks, and armed gangs have also looted trucks. On Friday, 17 people were killed waiting for trucks in eastern Khan Younis, in the Tahliya area, officials at Nasser Hospital said. Three survivors told the AP they had gone to wait for the trucks in a military "red zone" in Khan Younis and that troops opened fire from a tank and drones. It was a "crowd of people, may God help them, who want to eat and live," said Seddiq Abu Farhana, who was shot in the leg, forcing him to drop a bag of flour he had grabbed. "There was direct firing." Airstrikes also hit the Muwasi area on the southern end of Gaza's Mediterranean coast, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians driven from their homes are sheltering in tent camps. Of the 15 people killed in the strikes, eight were women and one was a child, according to the hospital. Israel's military said it was looking into Friday's reported airstrikes. It had no immediate comment on the reported shootings surrounding the aid trucks. UN investigates shootings near aid sites In its statement reacting to the United Nations rights office report, the GHF accused the UN of taking its casualty figures "directly from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry" and of "promoting Hamas' false propaganda." Shamdasani, the UN rights office spokesperson, told the AP that the data "is based on our own information gathering through various reliable sources, including medical, human rights and humanitarian organizations." Rik Peeperkorn, a World Health Organization (WHO) representative for the Palestinian territories, said Nasser Hospital, the biggest hospital operating in southern Gaza, receives dozens or hundreds of casualties every day, most coming from the vicinity of the food distribution sites. The overwhelmed hospital has become "one massive trauma ward," he said. WHO supports Nasser Hospital and other health facilities. The International Committee of the Red Cross also said in late June that its field hospital near one of the GHF sites has been overwhelmed more than 20 times in the previous months by mass casualties. It said people had been on their way to the food distribution sites, and "the vast majority of patients suffered gunshot injuries." Also on Friday, Israel's military said it was investigating after two soldiers were killed in combat in the north of Gaza. More than 860 Israeli soldiers have been killed since the war began, including more than 400 during the fighting in Gaza. The Health Ministry in Gaza said the number of Palestinians killed in the territory has passed 57,000. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count, but says more than half of the dead are women and children. The ministry is run by medical professionals employed by the Hamas government, and its numbers are widely cited by the UN and international organizations. The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking roughly 250 hostages.
Calgary Herald
an hour ago
- Calgary Herald
Braid: Stampede parade was a classic — and a great message to U.S. visitors
Article content Can't help it, sorry, but over three decades of watching the Calgary Stampede Parade I've not just been entertained every year, but often deeply moved. Article content It's so purely, utterly, sweetly, cornily Canadian. Article content That means more than ever in this first Stampede of the Donald Trump era. Article content All Canada was on proud display Friday — First Nations, dozens of ethnic Canadian groups, the Flames, the military, the veterans — together in one long, serpentine display of pride and goodwill. Article content I loved the Peruvians in their Inca rigs. The Japanese-Canadian kids and their graceful dances were delightful. I was especially tickled by the Heritage Park guy wearing the famous train around his waist, with his hat as the smokestack. Article content Article content Article content Article content Many of the displays by ethnic groups (if that's even the right word anymore) carried messages of strength in diversity. Article content The real world isn't always like that, obviously. But the Canadian dream endures. We do believe that people of many origins can co-exist and thrive in one nation. Article content Many Americans are now reading about some of it in Rick Atkinson's book, The Fate of the Day, the second volume in his majestic series on the Revolutionary War, the great conflict with Britain over U.S. Independence. Article content Article content Article content The new American nation and Canada (such as it was in the late 1770s) were bitter enemies. Article content The Americans attacked Quebec and were driven off. The loathed British force plaguing the American rebels from the north was called the Canadian Army. Article content That war was an orgy of slaughter, burned cities and devastated countryside. The ancient guns and cannons may look quaint in this age of military drones, but they were viciously effective. Few wars were more deadly until the Americans' own Civil War in the 1860s. Article content It's very admirable, therefore, that we've long since become two great and very large nations sharing a continent in relative harmony, and always in peace. Article content I don't believe Donald Trump will ever pose a serious threat to our democracy, however much he talks about the 51st state.
