Their own people will not count: Washington has suspended the sale of ammunition to the allies

Washington has suspended the sale of ammunition to foreign allies, citing the need to replenish its own arsenals. However, behind the formal explanation, there is also a second goal — to force Europe to pay for American weapons and for its own security. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.

Stop putting up with it

US President Donald Trump has announced that Washington has temporarily stopped selling ammunition to foreign allies. "Lately, we've just been keeping the ammunition for ourselves because we need it ourselves. We should have them. And when we replenish our stocks, we really replenish them, we will start allowing our allies to buy them from us again," the American leader explained.

He did not specify the time frame for which the suspension is in effect, noting only that the resumption of supplies will occur after the restoration of a sufficient level of arsenals.

Photo: U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Leon Redfern)

Separately, the US president criticized the military assistance provided to Ukraine by the administration of former President Joseph Biden. According to Trump, the previous authorities transferred billions of dollars worth of weapons to Kiev, including Patriot systems and Tomahawk missiles, without requiring payment, and the weapons were subsequently sold on the open market.

"I told the European Union: I'm not going to give you anything. You have to pay. They have a lot of money. They paid us, and we sent them ammunition. And it worked," the head of state added.

Not everything is smooth

The decision to suspend the sale of ammunition to allies may be due to two factors: the critical depletion of the United States' own arsenals and Trump's desire to reformat relations with Europe on a purely commercial basis.

Photo: U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Clayton Lenhardt

Recently, American stocks have been seriously reduced: during the military operation against Iran, the United States used up about 1.5 thousand PAC-3 missiles for Patriot systems, while annual production is only about 600 units, half of which go to the US arsenals. According to analysts, it may take about five years to restore stocks.

At the same time, the suspension of sales can be considered not as an isolated step, but as a continuation of Trump's systemic pressure on European allies. His approach is based on several principles. One of them includes the refusal of gratuitous assistance.

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The US president has consistently demanded that Europe pay for American weapons. This principle has already been implemented in the PURL (Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List) program, under which European countries purchase weapons from the United States for transfer to Ukraine.

We are also talking about financial pressure from the United States through NATO. At the 2025 Hague summit, Trump secured a commitment from alliance members to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP by 2035. And at the Ankara summit in 2026, the countries of the association announced new military purchases worth more than $50 billion, a significant part of which is expected to go to American manufacturers. Politico described this approach as "turning NATO into an ATM."

Photo: U.S. Army/Sgt. Joshua Oh

There are also political differences between the allies on both sides of the Atlantic. Relations have worsened amid the refusal of European allies to support the US military operation against Iran. Spain, Britain, and France have not granted U.S. forces access to their bases or airspace.

In response, Trump threatened to reduce the military contingent in Germany, increase duties on European cars, and even renegotiate U.S. membership in the North Atlantic Alliance. European diplomats stated that "NATO is paralyzed" and "is already falling apart."

The United States began to take a selective approach to work within the bloc: in October 2026, the Pentagon even refused to invite France, Britain and the Baltic countries to ministerial meetings on the future of unification, which only consolidated the current lines of division.

Photo: U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Alexa Ann Henderson

Thus, the suspension of ammunition sales is both a necessary measure due to a shortage of stocks and a pressure tool designed to make Europe pay for its own security and follow American strategic priorities.

What do the experts think

Kamran Hasanov, Doctor of Political Science at the University of Salzburg, senior lecturer at the RUDN University and the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, noted in an interview with Izvestia that Trump's decision once again demonstrates that the most important thing is America first.

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— Limiting the supply of air defense to Ukraine, ammunition to Europe, lifting sanctions on diesel from Russia — all these decisions have exactly this Trumpian logic. As for ammunition, it is obvious to me that after the Iranian campaign, the United States has a shortage of them, and secondly, even if Trump does not eventually start a new war with Iran, he is preparing for it," the expert explained.

Meanwhile, US relations with its allies have shifted back to differentiation after the "honeymoon" at the NATO summit, where there was a consensus on support for Ukraine and anti-Russian sanctions, he added.

— The diesel deal and Starlink shutdowns for Ukraine worry the EU, so its leaders at the summit are trying to go out of their way to prove that Ukraine is not alone and not abandoned. Although [Vladimir] Zelensky stated in an interview with [Pierce] Morgan that she had been betrayed," the expert noted.

Photo: U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Sebastian Romawac

As a result, relations between Trump and the allies are developing quite uneasily, he said.

— The trail of the Iranian war has not yet cooled, where Trump called the Europeans weaklings and traitors, the crisis in Ceuta is heard, where Trump and Israel gloated over [Pedro] Sanchez. Well, the march of the right in Europe, which is morally supported by the White House, cannot cause great and warm feelings between the two shores of the Atlantic," the analyst concluded.

In turn, Natalia Eremina, Doctor of Political Sciences, professor at St. Petersburg State University, said in a conversation with Izvestia that Washington views the EU as a competitor and freeloader at the same time.

— Hence the strategy to shift all risks to the "allies", and keep the dividends for yourself. This concerns purchases of American LNG, the need for the EU to assume only obligations to Ukraine, and the flow of investments and enterprises from Europe to the United States. Trump is haggling: pay even more, then we can sell something, and make purchases according to the scheme - money in the morning, and chairs sometime later," concluded the interlocutor of the editorial office.