Ukraine called the acting U.S. envoy to its foreign ministry on Wednesday, after Washington suspended some deliveries of ammunition and missiles to the country.
According to a statement from the Ukrainian government, Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Mariana Betsa met with the deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, John Ginkel, where she thanked him for American support for Ukraine.
However, she also cautioned that cutting off aid, particularly air-defense systems, would encourage Russia to step up its attacks.
Ukraine “emphasized the importance of continuing the delivery of previously allocated defense packages, especially focusing on strengthening Ukraine’s air defenses,” the statement read.
Betsa added that any delay or deceleration of support for Kyiv’s defense capabilities would embolden Moscow to continue to fight rather than seek a peace accord.
“The Deputy Minister underlined that Russia not only rejects the full and unconditional ceasefire that Ukraine agreed to on March 11, but also continues to escalate aerial attacks against Ukrainian cities and communities, killing civilians, and conducting battlefield assaults,” the statement read.
Following the meeting, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on X that his defense and foreign affairs ministers had reported to him, in particular on relations with the United States.
“At the working level, Ukraine and the U.S. are clarifying all the details of defense support, including air defense. One way or another, we must ensure protection for our people,” he said.
Ginkel was summoned after the Pentagon announced on July 2 that it was pausing some shipments of weapons to Ukraine again.
During a Wednesday press briefing, chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the Department of Defense was conducting a “capability review” to ensure U.S. military aid “aligns with our defense priorities.”
“We will not be providing any updates to specific quantities or types of munitions being provided to Ukraine or the timelines associated with these transfers, but [Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth] will continue to make recommendations to the president for his decision on military assistance to Ukraine,” he said.
Parnell called it a “common-sense, pragmatic step” toward establishing a framework for evaluating what weapons shipments are sent and where.
“We want to be very clear about this last point. Let it be known that our military has everything that it needs to conduct any mission, anywhere, anytime, all around the world,” he said.
Overnight, a Russian attack on the central Ukrainian city of Poltava killed two people and damaged a military recruitment center, the Ukrainian military and regional officials said on Thursday.
Regional governor Volodymyr Kohut said in a post on the Telegram messaging app that 11 people were also wounded, while the military reported fires in the recruitment center and in a nearby residential building.
On the Russian side, Moscow suffered the loss of its deputy commander-in-chief of the Russian navy, Maj. Gen. Mikhail Gudkov, in the Kursk region, state news agency TASS reported on Thursday.
Another Russian soldier, Nariman Shikhaliyev, was also killed.
“I express my deepest condolences to the family, friends, and fellow servicemen of Mikhail Gudkov, Nariman Shikhaliyev, and all other fighters who were killed in the Kursk Region,” the governor of Russia’s eastern province of Primorye, Oleg Kozhemyako, wrote in a Telegram post.
Ukraine’s military has not yet commented on the death of Gudkov, which has been confirmed by the Russian Ministry of Defense, which said he died while on a combat mission in the Kursk Region on July 2.
Jacob Burg contributed to this report.
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