The Trump administration has notified Congress of its intention to authorize direct sales of $50 million or more of defense equipment to Ukraine.
This is the first such decision during Trump’s second term after the administration froze military aid to Ukraine. Trump has said his administration’s priority is to end the war diplomatically, not through prolonged military support.
Despite predictions that Trump would completely cut off arms supplies to Ukraine, Congress has already approved more than $1 million in such sales. The Biden administration has allowed funds to be used, such as transferring .50-caliber machine guns.
Between 2015 and 2023, the United States quietly approved over $1.6 billion in ongoing defense exports to Ukraine under the DCS program.
The $50 million deal, which includes the export of technical data and defense services to Ukraine, was submitted to Congress under the Arms Export Control Act.
The move coincides with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s announcement that Kyiv is preparing to buy $30-50 billion worth of air defense systems and weapons from the United States as a guarantee of its future security.
