By Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States is delivering artillery shells and mobile rocket artillery missiles to Ukraine, two U.S. officials told Reuters on Wednesday, days after President Donald Trump’s administration halted shipments of some critical weapons to Kyiv.
The pause in some weapon shipments last week appears to have been tied to concerns that U.S. military stockpiles might be too low, officials had said.
Since then, Trump said he did not know who ordered the pause and that he would send more weapons to Ukraine, primarily defensive ones, to help the war-torn country defend itself against intensifying Russian advances.
The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said 155 mm artillery shells and GMLRS (mobile rocket artillery) missiles were now being provided to Ukraine.
The officials did not say how many weapons were being sent and whether the shipment was complete. It was also unclear why the latest shipments only included shells and artillery missiles and whether any decision had been made to resume shipments of other weapons.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday he ordered an expansion of contacts with the United States to ensure critical deliveries of military supplies, primarily air defence.
Trump has said he will consider sending Patriot air defense missiles to Ukraine, but it is unclear when.
The shipment paused last week included 30 Patriot missiles, 8,500 155mm artillery shells, more than 250 precision GMLRS missiles and 142 Hellfire air-to-surface missiles.
Kyiv has said that more air defense systems are desperately needed to help counter the swarms of drones and missiles Russia has been sending since its invasion in 2022.
Russia targeted Ukraine with a record 728 drones overnight.
The attack, which follows a series of escalating air assaults on Ukraine in recent weeks, showed the need for “biting” sanctions on the sources of income Russia uses to finance the war, including on those who buy Russian oil, Zelenskiy said on Telegram.
(Reporting by Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart; Editing by Bill Berkrot and Deepa Babington)
