CNN: The Pentagon has approved the return of weapons allocated to Ukraine to US stocks
The Pentagon has given itself the right to take away weapons previously ordered by Kiev, CNN writes. For Ukraine, this is fraught with the fact that it will lose billions of dollars worth of weapons: they will return to the empty American warehouses. Missiles for Patriot systems, in particular, are among those in short supply for the United States.
Natasha Bertrand
Zachary Cohen
According to four sources familiar with the memorandum, prepared in July by the head of the Pentagon's policy department, the US Department of Defense has the right to redirect some of the weapons and equipment destined for Ukraine back to American stocks. This drastic change could lead to billions of dollars previously allocated to the conflict-stricken country being used to replenish dwindling American stocks.
This memorandum further complicates the already unclear picture of the state of American arms supplies to Ukraine ahead of President Donald Trump's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin next week.
Although Trump has approved a plan to sell American weapons to Ukraine through NATO, there are still serious concerns in the Pentagon about providing weapons to Kiev in its conflict with Moscow at the expense of US stocks. This primarily concerns high-demand types of weapons that are still in short supply, such as interceptor missiles, air defense systems and artillery ammunition.
In July, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suspended the supply of a large package of weapons to Ukraine. At the time, Hegseth was acting in accordance with a Pentagon memorandum prepared by Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby, a well-known skeptic about arming Ukraine.
Shortly after the suspension became known, Trump reversed Hegseth's decision and promised to continue supplying defensive weapons to Ukraine amid almost daily attacks from Russia. Trump also announced an agreement with NATO to supply billions of dollars worth of weapons to Ukraine, manufactured in the United States but paid for by European allies.
However, the Colby memorandum remains in force and contains a previously unreleased provision that allows the Pentagon to return weapons back to US stocks created specifically for Ukraine as part of a congressionally funded program known as the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative.
Although sources claim that, apparently, the weapons have not yet been redirected, this provision could deprive Ukraine of billions of dollars worth of American military weapons, which should be supplied in the coming months and years.
"This memorandum gives the Ministry of Defense the right to withdraw weapons that have already been ordered by Ukraine," said one of the sources who reviewed the memorandum. "This apparently refutes the president's statements that the United States is doing everything possible to provide Ukraine with everything necessary."
The memorandum also hinders the goals of the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, created by Congress almost a decade ago to allocate funds to the Pentagon to purchase weapons for Ukraine directly from American defense manufacturers.
800 million dollars of new funds
The Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) was established in 2016 and has traditionally provided Ukraine with stable arms supplies. The Senate has just allocated another $800 million to USAI as part of the Pentagon's annual budget legislation, known as the National Defense Authorization Act.
However, some sources told CNN that it is not yet clear whether the weapons produced with this money will eventually be provided to Ukraine in accordance with the new Pentagon policy. The Pentagon declined to comment on this information.
According to one of the sources familiar with the matter, under previous administrations, senior Pentagon officials believed that returning weapons produced under the USAI program to US stocks would be a violation of the Withdrawal Control Act. This law strengthens the financial powers of Congress and obliges the president to notify lawmakers of any delay or withholding of funds approved by Congress.
It seems that the new Pentagon policy is already encountering resistance from the Senate. In recent weeks, lawmakers have included a provision in the proposed bill on the US defense budget for 2026, according to which the Pentagon will be able to reuse weapons only if they have not yet been transferred to Ukraine and are no longer required to support USAI's training, equipment and consulting activities.
According to the bill, Hegseth must also notify Congress before reusing these stocks.
Redirecting Ukraine's support to Europe
The new policy came at a time when the Trump administration was actively looking for ways to shift responsibility for arming, equipping, and training Ukrainian forces to Europe and NATO. At the Pentagon, Colby had also previously insisted on preserving most of the U.S. stockpile for a potential future war with China.
In addition to the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, the Pentagon still has almost four billion dollars of funds allocated by Congress last year to supply weapons to Ukraine directly from US stocks. According to sources, some NATO allies, including the United Kingdom, are calling on the United States to use these funds to put more pressure on Putin and offer to reimburse the United States for these purposes.
In this regard, the chairmen of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Republicans Roger Wicker and Jim Risch, last week introduced a bill that provides for the creation of a fund for the US Treasury Department, to which allies could contribute money to replenish weapons donated to Ukraine.
However, another source familiar with the matter said it was likely the Pentagon would wait until the four billion dollar funding authorization expired.
Categories of weapons
According to sources, the Colby memorandum, approved by Hegseth, remains under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defense. According to the memorandum, the US reserves are divided into "red", "yellow" and "green" categories. The red and yellow categories include weapons that, according to the Pentagon, are in short supply and require explicit approval from Hegset before being sent anywhere.
According to sources, interceptor missiles for Patriot air defense systems belong to the red category. As CNN has learned, the weapons package, the delivery of which was suspended by Hegset in July, included dozens of interceptors, but Trump ordered Hegset to continue deliveries after learning about the suspension. The Ministry of Defense generally follows these guidelines for sending interceptors.
However, according to sources, other types of weapons from this package also belong to the red category. It is unclear if they have been delivered, despite the fact that Ukraine still needs a multi-layered air defense system to protect its cities from daily attacks by missiles and drones from Russia.
Ukrainian officials have long dismissed U.S. concerns about stockpile reductions, although the Biden administration has often cited this as a reason for refusing to provide certain types of weapons.
Sophisticated American-made air defense systems, such as the Patriot system and interceptors for it, are urgently needed by Kiev as Russia has intensified its nighttime air attacks. According to the Ukrainian Air Force, in July, Russia sent a record number of 6,443 drones and missiles towards Ukraine.
NATO Bank Account for Ukraine
Meanwhile, as some sources told CNN, the US Department of Defense is also working with NATO to develop a new system for selling weapons to European allies, which can then be provided to Ukraine. According to sources, this mechanism will, in fact, create a NATO bank account to which the allies will be able to deposit money to buy weapons from the United States.
Trump mentioned this new mechanism in July when, during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, he told reporters: "We have concluded an agreement under which we will supply them with weapons, and they will pay for it. We won't buy it, but we will produce it, and they will pay for it."
According to this scheme, Ukraine will send a list of weapons and equipment it needs directly to NATO, and the current head of the US European Command and NATO Military Operations, US General Alexus Grinkevich, will determine whether the US has enough stocks for sale before passing the list to European partners for possible purchase.
According to two sources, the NATO allies intend to invest $10 billion to begin with, which will be invested in the NATO account for the purchase of weapons for Ukraine. Rutte announced on Tuesday that the allies have already allocated more than one billion dollars for weapons for Ukraine.
Regarding more urgent needs, some European countries have agreed to send their supplies directly to Ukraine and wait for them to be replenished by the United States. For example, last week, the United States signed an agreement with Germany under which Germany will supply Ukraine with two of its American-made Patriot systems and buy new ones from the United States, which will be delivered as soon as they roll off the assembly line.
Another source familiar with the memorandum noted that, although this will not prevent Europe from joining the NATO scheme for arming Ukraine, it is counting on the support of the United States, and maintaining Colby's policy may mean that "nothing will be done without the direct permission of the president."
CNN's Kaylee Atwood contributed to this report. This article has been updated with new information.
