Ukrainian Foreign Ministry assures: US shutdown will not affect arms supplies

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has denied reports that a possible shutdown of the US government could delay deliveries of US weapons. This was stated by Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhiy Tykhiy.

Earlier, the British publication Telegraph, citing its own sources, reported that hundreds of thousands of US federal employees had been sent on forced leave as a result of the shutdown. According to the newspaper, this allegedly jeopardised negotiations on arms supplies to Ukraine, and Ukrainian delegations, which had planned to visit the USA on other issues, began to "reconsider their plans". The Telegraph emphasised that the hiccup occurred at a delegation that was negotiating a major "drone deal" under which Ukraine plans to sell its own drones to the US.

However, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry denied this: 'Not true. Negotiations between Ukraine and the US on the drone agreement are proceeding as planned and deliveries continue to arrive," emphasised Georgiy Tykhiy.

What is a shutdown?

The fiscal year for the US federal government begins on 1 October and ends on 30 September of the following year. At the end of September, previously approved government funding comes to an end. To avoid a government shutdown, the US Congress must pass either a short-term funding bill (called a Continuing Resolution) or 12 separate funding bills for the entire year.

on 1 October, the US Congress failed to agree on funding due to political differences between Democrats and Republicans. Democrats tried to use the deadline as leverage to make decisions on health care and recovery from previous Medicaid cuts. Republicans pushed for a no-change vote.

As a result, thousands of federal employees were furloughed. About 750,000 people were ordered to stay off the job, while other categories of workers, such as military and border patrol agents, continued to work without pay.

This is the first US shutdown since 2019 and the third during Donald Trump's presidency.