Kyiv Post: Trump Administration Approved $50 Million Arms Export to Ukraine

The Administration of U.S. President Donald Trump approved the first arms export to Ukraine worth $50 million through direct commercial sales.

The Kyiv Post reported on this, citing sources in diplomatic circles.

A notification regarding the green light for defense products exports to Ukraine was sent to Congress on Wednesday.

The supplies will be delivered through the Direct Commercial Sale (DCS) program, which involves contracts between foreign entities and U.S. companies that have received a license to export defense-related goods and services.

This authorization is the first of its kind since Trump returned to the White House.

The publication notes that between 2015 and 2023, the United States quietly permitted the continuous export of defense products and services to Ukraine, totaling more than $1.6 billion through the Defense Contracting Services (DCS).

“All DCS transactions are conducted quietly; they are not publicly announced like foreign military sales,” Colby Badwar, a security analyst at the research group Tochnyi, shared.

He added that the news here is that the sale of American weapons continues, despite all predictions that Trump would completely halt such supplies to Ukraine.

The notification regarding the license for the sale of $50 million or more, first reported by the Kyiv Post, was submitted to Congress under the Arms Export Control Act – a law that authorizes U.S. presidents to regulate the import and export of defense-related goods and services.

It is noted that the proposed sale covers the export of defense products, including technical data, and defense services to Ukraine.

Earlier this week, it was revealed that Antonov Airlines’ An-124 Ruslan cargo plane was involved in transporting several F-16 fighter jet fuselages to Rzeszów, Poland.

Rzeszów is home to a major hub used for sending international military aid to Ukraine, so it is possible that the fuselages are intended to support the Ukrainian fleet of F-16s.