US government shutdown derails Ukraine arms deal: Report
The United States government's shutdown has reportedly cast doubt on a proposed "Mega Deal" of military aid to Ukraine.
The Telegraph reported on Friday, citing Ukrainian sources, that the arms deal underway between the two countries has "been thrown into uncertainty” after hundreds of thousands of US federal workers were furloughed on Wednesday after the country's lawmakers from opposing political parties failed to reach an agreement on government spending.
The source reportedly claimed that Kiev’s “main concern is we have a lot of discussions ongoing about future shipments [of arms and munitions]… All future projects are a little bit harmed because people from the Pentagon, State Department, and White House are not meeting and we lose time because of this shutdown.”
The shutdown began after US President Donald Trump failed to resolve the budget standoff with the leaders of the opposition Democratic Party.
Trump insisted earlier this week that “a lot of good can come down from shutdowns,” saying he would use the shutdown as an opportunity to “get rid of a lot of things we didn’t want, and they’d be Democrat things.”
The government shutdown is expected to last weeks, and could result in American weapons and ammunition deliveries to Kiev facing delays.
“I don’t see how they will continue,” the unnamed Ukrainian source told The Telegraph, expressing concern about the Kiev forces' capability to hold out against the advancing Russian troops on the front line if American arms and ammunition are delayed.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, following his recent visit to Washington, where he met Trump again, announced a "Mega Deal" between the two sides, allowing Kiev to purchase more American weapons and munitions.
The "Mega Deal", totaling around $90 billion, included weaponry of various types, long-range missiles in particular, to attack vital targets deep inside Russian territory.
Media reports said Kiev had initially proposed to submit a $100 billion deal worth of American weaponry, potentially financed by European partners.
Kiev has reportedly begun exporting some domestically produced weapons systems, particularly naval drones, after the government in September launched a controlled export program. The US military is reportedly one of the potential buyers of the cheap Ukrainian drones.
Since Russia launched its special military operation in Donbas in 2022, the US-led Western countries have collectively provided the Kiev forces with hundreds of billions of dollars worth of military aid to fight against the Russian troops.
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