Key developments on Feb. 11: * Ukraine could trade territory in potential peace talks with Russia, Zelensky says * Ukraine strikes Russia's Saratov oil refinery, military confirms * US won't send troops to Ukraine, Pentagon chief says * North Korea has sent 200 long-range artillery guns to Russia, Seoul says * Ukrainian drones destroy Russian
The U.S. plans to review the deployment of its troops around the world but is not going to send them to Ukraine, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said during a press conference on Feb. 11.
"We're going to find billions, hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud and abuse," Trump said on Feb. 9 in an interview with Fox News.
Pete Hegseth will "highlight the need for increased European leadership on security assistance to Ukraine" at the Ramstein-format summit in Brussels on Feb. 12, the Pentagon said.
Funds that Congress approved for weapons packages to Ukraine during the Biden administration are nearly empty, with most weapons already in Ukraine. A Dec. 30 package from former U.S. President Joe Biden used up the last of the funding from the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which since 2022 has
Inspectors general provide oversight of federal agencies, investigating cases of possible fraud, waste, and abuse of power. Defense Department watchdogs have played a role in tracking U.S. military aid to Ukraine throughout Russia's full-scale invasion.
"There's a thought that Russia has the ultimate hand here and it has every advantage," outgoing U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told Bloomberg News. "It has some advantages, but it doesn't completely dominate this equation here."
Laura Cooper, senior Pentagon official leading the Russia and Ukraine office, stepped down as Donald Trump's inauguration looms, Politico reported on Jan. 6, citing one former and three current officials.
The Jan. 9 Ramstein-format summit of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) will focus primarily on supporting Ukraine's defense capabilities in establishing a "credible deterrent force" through 2027, the Pentagon said on Jan. 7.
The U.S. Defense Department has provided $253.7 million to Williams International (Williams) through the Defense Production Act (DPA).
Trump's picks include Elbridge Colby, who opposes Ukraine's NATO membership but supports tougher sanctions on Moscow, and Michael Duffey, who froze military aid to Kyiv in 2019.
The latest aid package will be pulled through the remaining $2 billion in funding from the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) — a Pentagon-led program for supplying arms to Ukraine through contracts with U.S. defense companies.
"What we're seeing is that (North Korean troops are) positioned around the Kursk region, not moving into Ukraine at the moment," Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said on Nov. 25 during a press briefing.
Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh dismissed Russia’s rhetoric surrounding its nuclear policy as a continuation of its behavior over the past two years.
In a letter seen by Reuters on Nov. 15, two senior Democratic senators argued that Musk’s involvement in SpaceX programs should be reviewed for potential debarment and exclusion due to his communications with Russian officials.
Pentagon officials are "shocked" and "alarmed" by President-elect Donald Trump's decision to nominate Fox News anchor and veteran Pete Hegseth as U.S. defense secretary, Politico reported on Nov. 13.
The list of those to dismiss may include the Joint Chiefs of Staff, sources said, but the plans for the firings are still in the early stages of development.
"Since the supplemental, we've drawn down nearly $3.7 billion in equipment from (Department of Defense) stocks across 12 PDA (presidential drawdown authority) drawdowns that were announced between late April through mid-October," Pentagon spokesperson Major General Pat Ryder said.
When asked if the U.S. had enough weapons stockpiled to get shipments to Ukraine before Trump's inauguration, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said Washington was "confident" it could keep its commitments to Kyiv.
"A portion of those soldiers have already moved closer to Ukraine, and we are increasingly concerned that Russia intends to use these soldiers in combat or to support combat operations against Ukrainian forces in Russia's Kursk Oblast near the border with Ukraine," said Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh.
"Russian losses, again both killed and wounded in action, in just the first year of the war exceeded the total of all Soviet losses in any conflict since World War II combined," a senior Pentagon official said.
The U.S. Defense Department awarded a contract worth around $1.2 billion to the Raytheon defense contractor for the production of air-to-air AMRAAM missiles, the department said on Sept. 11.
"I'm pleased to say that President (Joe) Biden will announce today an additional $250 million security assistance package for Ukraine," U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said during the 24th meeting of the Ramstein group in Germany.
Key developments on Aug. 21: * Ukraine destroys 3, damages around 5 Russian aircraft in recent attack, source says * Russia has dropped 27 guided bombs on Kursk Oblast, Ukraine's military claims * Russia plans to respond to Ukraine's Kursk Oblast incursion, military intelligence says * Kremlin trying to convince the public that Ukrainian
The quarterly report covers a three-month period ending June 30. Since then, Ukraine has launched a surprise incursion into Russia's Kursk Oblast and now reportedly holds 1,263 square kilometers (488 square miles) of Russian territory.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov have "discussed ongoing support from allies and partners in helping meet Ukraine's urgent military requirements," Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said on Aug. 19.
The new US aid package is the sixty-third tranche allocated under the Presidential Drawdown Authority program, according to the Pentagon's statement.
Due to the errors, the Defense Department can send a further $2 billion in weapons to Ukraine to cover the amount already approved by U.S. President Joe Biden.
The joint exercise "Noble Partner," originally scheduled to take place in Georgia from July 25 to Aug. 6., will be put on hold indefinitely, the Defense Department announced.
On July 2, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov will meet with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon.
"I think that if I were North Korean military personnel management, I would be questioning my choices on sending my forces to be cannon fodder in an illegal war against Ukraine."
Ukraine recently said that Washington's ban meant Ukraine was unable to attack Russian forces as they were building up before crossing the border into Kharkiv Oblast in the renewed Russian offensive that began earlier in May.
