U.S. officials were surprised by halting arms deliveries to Ukraine

The decision to suspend shipments was made by Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby and a small circle of advisers because of concerns that the U.S. stockpile of certain weapons was running low, Politico reported.

President Donald Trump's allies were disappointed by the move. They accused officials like Colby of pushing the decision without informing the rest of the administration.

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"I think it was the director of policy at the Department of Defense, this Colby guy, who did all of this. We don't actually have a national security adviser. I'm not even sure if (Secretary of State Marco) Rubio was consulted on this. There are internal divisions in the White House," said Congressman Michael McCaul.

One U.S. official said the Pentagon's decision was uncoordinated and came as a surprise to the State Department.

Two other U.S. officials said Pentagon leaders did not seek advice from the State Department, the U.S. Embassy in Kiev or Special Representative for Ukraine Keith Kellogg's team before recalling a shipment of critical weapons that was already in Poland.

Some members of the Joint Staff also opposed suspending the shipments, both senior officials and a person familiar with the discussions said.

Both the White House and the State Department rejected the claim that the suspension of ammunition shipments caught administration officials by surprise.

Photo: OP.

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