United States Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, did not report the White House that he authorized a break in the Ukraine sends to Ukraine last week, according to five sources familiar with the matter.
The measure triggered a dispute in the American administration to understand why the interruption was implemented and explaining it to Congress and the Ukrainian government.
President Donald Trump suggested on Tuesday that he was not responsible for the measure.
Asked, during a cabinet meeting, if he approved the pause, the Republican hesitated, saying only that the US would continue to send defensive weapons to Ukraine.
Pressed again who authorized the break, he replied, “I don’t know, why don’t you tell me?”
The episode emphasizes the process of frequently disorganized policies formulation in the Trump administration, particularly under Hegseth in the Defense Department.
The break was the second time this year that Hegseth decided to interrupt Washington’s weapons flow to Ukraine, taking senior national security officials off guard, sources said.
The decision first took place in February and was quickly reversed, they reported three of the sources-mirroring what happened on Monday night, when Trump announced that arms shipments would continue, although the secretary approved the break.
The American special envoy to Ukraine, retired general General Keith Kellogg, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, also the president’s national security counselor, were also not informed about the break in advance and learned of her through press reports, according to a high government official and sources.
Pentagon Secretary of Press, Kingsley Wilson, told CNN In a statement that said, “Secretary Hegseth provided a structure for the president to evaluate military aid and existing inventories. This effort was coordinated by the entire government.”
Asked if the Secretary of Defense informed the White House before approving the suspension of the shipments, the White House Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement that the Pentagon reviewed “to ensure that all the support for all foreign nations is aligned with the interests of the United States” and added that Trump “made the decision to continue defensive weapons to interrupt the killing on this Brutal war, in which the Pentagon claimed to be working actively. ”
She added that “the president has complete confidence in the Secretary of Defense.”
Two of the sources attributed the absence of Hegseth in information to the government that he did not have a trusted cabinet chief or counselors around him who could encourage him to better coordinate major political decisions with interfault partners.
Trump instructed Hegseth to restart some shipments
Shortly after learning of the break last week, Trump instructed Hegseth to restart at least part of the ammunition – specifically, which have been essential for protecting Ukrainian civilians from relentless missile and drone attacks from Russia.
Many of the ammunition are already in Poland and can be transferred to Kiev quickly, reported the high government official.
The gun package had been allocated by the previous government and was already on its way to Ukraine when it was interrupted.
In a connection with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday (4), Trump minimized his role in the decision to stop the flow of weapons, said the CNN.
The Pentagon only announced on Monday night that-after Trump said publicly in the early evening that Ukrainians needed defensive weapons to protect themselves.
Trump reiterated this position on Tuesday (8) in the White House.
“I will say the following: the Ukrainians, whether you find it unfair that we have given all that money or not, they were very brave, because someone had to operate that,” he expressed. “And a lot of people I know wouldn’t be operating that, they wouldn’t have the courage to do that.”
TrUMP requested evaluation of US arms stocks, but did not interrupt the shipments to Ukraine
The Pentagon’s decision to suspend arms shipments – including Patriot interceptor missiles and artillery ammunition – occurred after Trump requested Hegseth last month, an evaluation of US arms stocks, one of the sources told sources to CNN.
Iran and Israel, and the Republican leader wanted to ensure that American troops in the region have sufficient ammunition to defend themselves if necessary.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell confirmed last week that the department was conducting “a capacity review … to ensure that US military aid is aligned with our defense priorities.”
But Trump did not specifically instruct Hegseth to interrupt Ukraine arms shipments as part of this review, three of the sources said.
The recommendation came from the Undersecretary of Policy Defense, Elbridge Colby, confirmed all five sources, which has long been skeptical of large amounts of Washington’s military aid to Ukraine.
“A policy that prioritizes Europe is not what the United States need at this exceptionally dangerous moment. We need to focus on China and Asia – clearly,” Colby wrote last year.
