Military financing has been stopped, and officials are meeting to consider suspending another type of assistance
The Trump administration has halted funding for new weapons sales to Ukraine and is considering freezing arms shipments from U.S. stockpiles, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The pause on arms financing aligns with the administration’s broader freeze on foreign aid, but the latest move to potentially cut off military support follows a heated Oval Office exchange on Friday between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The meeting ended abruptly, with Zelenskyy leaving the White House ahead of schedule, according to U.S. officials cited by the WSJ.
A White House meeting on Monday reportedly addressed whether to further restrict weapons transfers to Ukraine. Participants included Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, The Washington Post reported.
Friday’s meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy was expected to result in the signing of a critical minerals development agreement between the U.S. and Ukraine—a step Trump viewed as essential to advancing peace efforts between Kyiv and Moscow. However, the contentious exchange led to the cancellation of a scheduled luncheon and press conference.
Although Secretary of State Rubio has signed a waiver exempting Ukraine from the foreign aid freeze, the State Department has yet to notify the Pentagon, effectively leaving Ukraine cut off from receiving weapons under the Foreign Military Financing program, according to the WSJ.
Ukraine has multiple avenues to secure U.S. weapons, but the most critical has been presidential drawdown authority, which allows the Pentagon to transfer arms from its own stockpiles. Even if Trump proceeds with further restrictions, Ukrainian forces are expected to have sufficient weapons to sustain operations against Russia through mid-2025, thanks in part to a major arms transfer completed under the Biden administration.
The fate of the critical minerals deal remains uncertain. Trump is expected to address the matter in his Tuesday night speech before Congress, while Zelenskyy has expressed a willingness to proceed with signing the agreement despite Friday’s diplomatic fallout.
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Start your day informed with the AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top stories for 24 May, covering the latest developments you need to know.
The nomination of Russian-Armenian businessman Ruben Vardanyan for the 2026 Václav Havel Human Rights Prize has triggered criticism.
Ukraine’s military denied that it struck a student dormitory in the Russian-controlled Luhansk region on Friday (22 May).
The inaugural Enhanced Games began in Las Vegas on Sunday (24 May), launching one of the most controversial experiments in modern sport, in which athletes openly compete using performance-enhancing drugs banned under traditional anti-doping rules.
A peace agreement between Washington and Tehran is yet to materialise, with U.S. President Donald Trump saying that negotiations are incomplete and an Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman saying that a deal isn't imminent.
A "largely negotiated" memorandum of understanding on an Iran peace deal would reopen the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday, though the Iranian Fars news agency disputed that claim.
Police fired tear gas and clashed with protesters in central Belgrade on Saturday, as tens of thousands gathered to demand early elections and an end to the more than decade-long rule of Serbia's President Aleksandar Vučić.
The World Health Organization warned on Monday that the fast-moving Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda was outpacing response efforts, with 220 suspected deaths reported so far.
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China has launched three taikonauts to its Tiangong space station, including one crew member set to spend a full year in orbit in one of the longest planned space missions ever attempted.
Chinese President Xi Jinping praised the “unbreakable friendship” between China and Pakistan as he met Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Beijing on Monday, a day after companies from both countries signed cooperation agreements worth $1.22 billion.
A second group of Australian women and children linked to the Islamic State group has departed a refugee camp in north-east Syria and may return to Australia, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported on Friday.
Pope Leo XIV has issued a historic apology for the Catholic Church’s past role in legitimising slavery, describing it as a “wound in Christian memory,” as he released a landmark encyclical addressing human dignity in the age of artificial intelligence.
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