“We have to,” said US President Donald Trump, who announced on July 7 that his administration would restart weapons supplies to Ukraine, which is facing an intensifying bombardment by Russian missiles.

“We’re going to send some more weapons. We have to,” Trump told reporters during a dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who is visiting Washington to talk about possible ceasefire in Gaza, adding “defensive weapons, primarily, but they’re getting hit very, very hard.”

“Ukrainians have to be able to defend themselves.” Trump said. “So many people are dying in that mess.”

Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell released a statement announcing the transfer of additional defensive weapons to Ukraine at the direction of Trump: “Our framework for POTUS to evaluate military shipments across the globe remains in effect and is integral to our America First defence priorities.”

The decision to halt all new weapons deliveries has now been blamed on US Secretary for Defence Pete Hegseth, who is now said to have unilaterally ordered the Pentagon to stop deliveries, claiming that the US’ stockpiles are running dangerously low. It has been suggested that Hegseth acted without clearing the decision with Trump first, who has now reversed the order as he comes under increased pressure to restart aid to Ukraine.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Trump told Zelenskiy during a call before the weekend that he was not responsible for the halt in weapons shipments to Kyiv. He added that he had directed a review of munitions stockpiles after the US struck Iran’s nuclear sites last month but didn’t order the department to freeze the arms deliveries, suggesting that the move was made independently by Hegseth and/or the Pentagon without the permission of the President.

The White House officials distanced Trump from Hegseth’s decision on July 7, arguing that it had “nothing to do” with the President, calling the move “a routine review of existing weaponry.”

The nature of the war in Ukraine changed in May when Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a devastating missile barrage on Ukrainian cities only hours after a phone call with Trump produced “no progress” towards a ceasefire. What has been a drone war is increasingly a missile war as Russia takes advantage of its growing lead in ballistic and cruise missile production, just as Ukraine’s stock of air defence missiles dwindles.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a briefing that Hegseth “ordered the Pentagon to conduct this review to ensure that everything going out aligns with America’s interests.”

The decision to reverse the halt comes after Trump spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, by phone on July 4. Zelenskiy has been lobbying Trump at every opportunity to increase the supplies of the crucial Patriot missiles in particular – the only effective defence Ukraine has against Russian missiles, largely without success.

On July 7, Germany said that it was currently in “intense” talks with Washington on the possibility of buying two Patriot batteries from the US on Ukraine’s behalf. Given Washington’s growing reluctance to supply Ukraine with more materiel, the EU has been exploring the possibility of raising debt to buy the needed weapons from the US, rather than relying on grants and gifts.

Following the last round of bilateral talks in Istanbul on June 3, Trump has become increasingly frustrated as the ceasefire talks, launched in April, are now dead in the water. Following his last call with Putin, Trump said that he no longer believes the Russian leader is interested in halting the conflict.

“I’m disappointed, frankly, that President Putin hasn’t stopped. I’m not happy about it either,” Trump told reporters.

The issue of restarting US weapons to Ukraine has now jumped to the top of he agenda in a series of meetings planned at the Recovery Conference in Italy and then in Kyiv planned for the coming week, Politico reports.

Trump’s Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg will meet with Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov in Rome at an international aid conference before travelling on to Kyiv to meet with Zelenskiy. The Ukrainian government says the resumption of air defence munitions as critical to its war effort.