State Department OKs $322 million in proposed weapons sales to Ukraine

The State Department said Wednesday that it has approved $322 million in proposed weapons sales to Ukraine to enhance its air defense capabilities and provide armored combat vehicles, coming as the country works to fend off escalating Russian attacks.

The potential sales, which the department said were notified to Congress, include $150 million for the supply, maintenance, repair and overhaul of U.S. armored vehicles, and $172 million for surface-to-air missile systems.

The approvals come weeks after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed a pause on other weapons shipments to Ukraine to allow the Pentagon to assess its weapons stockpiles, in a move that caught the White House by surprise . President Donald Trump then made an abrupt change in posture, pledging publicly earlier this month to continue to send weapons to Ukraine .

“We have to,” Trump said. “They have to be able to defend themselves. They’re getting hit very hard now. We’re going to send some more weapons — defensive weapons primarily.”

Trump recently endorsed a plan to have European allies buy U.S. military equipment that can then be transferred to Ukraine. It was not immediately clear how the latest proposed sales related to that arrangement.

Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the U.S. has provided more than $67 billion in weapons and security assistance to Kyiv.

Since Trump came back into office, his administration has gone back and forth about providing more military aid to Ukraine, with political pressure to stop U.S. funding of foreign wars coming from the isolationists inside the Trump administration and on Capitol Hill.

Over the course of the war, the U.S. has routinely pressed for allies to provide air defense systems to Ukraine. But many are reluctant to give up the high-tech systems, particularly countries in Eastern Europe that also feel threatened by Russia.

美国国务院周三表示，已批准向乌克兰出售价值 3.22 亿美元的武器，以增强其防空能力并提供装甲战车。此举正值乌克兰努力抵御俄罗斯不断升级的袭击之际。

该部门表示，已将潜在的销售情况通知国会，其中包括价值 1.5 亿美元的美国装甲车辆的供应、维护、修理和大修，以及价值 1.72 亿美元的地对空导弹系统。

就在几周前，国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯指示暂停向乌克兰运送其他武器，以便五角大楼评估其武器库存，此举令白宫措手不及。随后，唐纳德·特朗普总统的态度突然转变，并于本月初公开承诺将继续向乌克兰输送武器。

“我们必须这么做，”特朗普说。“他们必须有能力自卫。他们现在遭受的打击非常沉重。我们将提供更多武器——主要是防御性武器。”

特朗普最近支持一项计划，让欧洲盟友购买美国军事装备，然后再转运到乌克兰。目前尚不清楚最新提出的军售方案与该安排有何关联。

自俄罗斯于 2022 年 2 月全面入侵乌克兰以来，美国已向基辅提供了超过 670 亿美元的武器和安全援助。

自特朗普再次执政以来，他的政府在是否向乌克兰提供更多军事援助的问题上一直摇摆不定，来自特朗普政府内部和国会山的孤立主义者施加的政治压力要求停止美国资助外国战争。

战争期间，美国一直敦促盟友向乌克兰提供防空系统。但许多国家不愿放弃这些高科技系统，尤其是那些同样感到受到俄罗斯威胁的东欧国家。