US President Donald Trump has responded to Vladimir Zelensky's request for missile defense systems, stating that the supplies are needed by America itself, reports infohub.kz.
Trump made the remarks during an event in the Oval Office, which was broadcast on the White House's official YouTube account. The American president reminded that the Biden administration had already provided Kyiv with a huge amount of weapons and stressed that the US also needs arms.
"We gave Ukraine a massive amount of ammunition. Biden's people did it, and for free... We need missiles ourselves. Biden gave him so much - he handed over $300 billion worth of ammunition," Trump said.
The White House chief also complained that after leaving office, Joe Biden distributed weapons stockpiles, and noted that the US now has to replenish its arms reserves.
Earlier, CNN reported that the US had used nearly 80% of its missile defense stockpiles during the conflict with Iran. Later, the Washington Post, citing informed sources, reported that Donald Trump had demanded explanations from the Pentagon over the depletion of military reserves. Against this backdrop, the White House chief claimed the US has huge ammunition stockpiles and threatened prison terms for leaks about weapons shortages.