US allows contractors to repair weapons in Ukraine as Russia continues bombing campaign

The US has lifted its ban on contractors working to maintain and repair US-provided weapons in Ukraine, as Russia continues its rain bombs on civilians across the embattled country.

The policy shift from the Biden administration — aimed at bolstering US aid in Ukraine’s fight against the Kremlin — would station a small number of American defense contractors far from the front lines.

They would not engage in combat.

They would be there to help ensure U.S.-provided equipment “can be rapidly repaired when damaged and be provided maintenance as needed,” Reuters reported.

The restrictions have made it relatively impossible for Ukraine to repair a large quantity of damaged weapons from among the tens of billions of dollars in equipment the US has sent over since Russia’s 2022 invasion.

Kyiv has either had to move the US-provided munitions out of the country or rely on video-conferencing to fix those systems within its borders.

Repairs have also slowed down as the US has increasingly provided Kyiv with more complicated equipment, like F-16 fighter jets and Patriot air defense systems, the sources said.

The US plans to send additional Patriot defense systems and other equipment before President-elect Trump takes office, The Wall Street Journal reported, speeding up an earlier timetable that would have seen another $7 billion in equipment sent by April.

The policy change is the latest easing of restrictions in the final months of Joe Biden’s term — and comes amid word that Trump may try to create a “buffer zone” along the current front line as part of his peace plan.

Under one of the possibilities Trump is considering, the current front lines would be frozen and the US would pump Ukraine with weapons to prevent Moscow from re-igniting its invasion, The Telegraph reported, citing three Trump staffers.

In exchange, Kyiv would agree not to pursue its ambition to join NATO for 20 years.

European and British troops would be responsible for enforcing the 800-mile buffer zone under the plan — the US would not provide financial support or deploy troops in support of the mission.

“We can do training and other support, but the barrel of the gun is going to be European,” a member of Trump’s team told the Telegraph.

“We are not sending American men and women to uphold peace in Ukraine. And we are not paying for it. Get the Poles, Germans, British and French to do it.”

That plan goes against the stated goals of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has vowed to keep fighting until the country regains all of its territory, including the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014.

Republican party strategist Bryan Lanza told the BBC that Ukraine would have to scale back its goals to get the fighting to stop. “When Zelensky says we will only stop this fighting, there will only be peace once Crimea is returned, we’ve got news for President Zelensky: Crimea is gone,” he said.

No calls between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are yet scheduled, Sergei Ryabkov, Russia’s deputy foreign minister told news agency Interfax, but Russia is “ready to listen” to Trump’s proposals.

The developments came as Russia bombarded residential areas of Ukraine’s Black Sea port city of Odessa for the second night in a row Friday, killing one person and injuring 13 others, including two children.

As many as 51 drones rained down on the city, damaging several apartment buildings, private houses, commercial buildings and dozens of private cars, as well as triggering a large fire, regional governor Oleh Kiper said on Saturday.

The two injured children were boys aged four and 16, prosecutors said.

Other civilians were killed in the Kharkiv region.

For its part, Ukraine launched an overnight attack on the Aleksinsky chemical plant in central Russia, which produces gunpowder, ammunition and weapons.

“Attacks on weapons warehouses, military airfields, and enterprises, which are part of the Russian military-industrial complex, reduce Russia’s ability to terrorize our country,” Ukraine’s SBU Security Service said Saturday.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces shot down 50 Ukrainian drones in seven Russian regions overnight, according to Russian state news agency Tass.

Separately, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said he will meet France’s president, Britain’s prime minister, the head of NATO, and leaders of Nordic and Baltic states soon to discuss transatlantic cooperation and the war in Ukraine in the wake of Trump’s victory.

The President-elect has routinely criticized the level of US support for Ukraine in its fight against the Kremlin — and during the campaign promised to end the conflict before even taking office.

“There is no doubt that this new political landscape is a serious challenge for everyone, especially in the context of a possible end to the Russian-Ukrainian war as a result of an agreement between, for example, the president of Russia and the new president of the United States,” Tusk said.

“In the coming days, we will very intensively coordinate cooperation with countries that have a very similar view on the geopolitical and transatlantic situation and situation in Ukraine.”

The war could also soon grow to include South Korea’s involvement following North Korea’s deployment of some 10,000 troops to support Russia.

President Yoon Suk-yeol said South Korea is considering providing weapons directly to Ukraine, which would severe a longstanding policy of not supplying equipment to countries in conflict.

“Now, depending on the level of North Korean involvement, we will gradually adjust our support strategy in phases,” Yoon said, AFP reported. “This means we are not ruling out the possibility of providing weapons.”

Yoon said he and Trump had already discussed North Korea’s involvement in a phone conversation, and that South Korea would continue monitoring the situation.

If he decided to provide weapons to Ukraine, the initial batch would be defensive, he emphasized.