Trump administration approves lethal arms sales to Ukraine
Correction: A previous version of this blog post incorrectly reported that  the Trump administration  had approved the first-ever commercial sale of lethal weapons to Ukraine.  It  stated that Defense Secretary Jim Mattis had publicly supported arms sales to Ukraine; Mattis did not explicitly do so. This post has been updated.
 The Trump administration  has approved the largest U.S. commercial sale of lethal defensive weapons to Ukraine since 2014. The move was heavily supported by top  Trump  national security Cabinet officials and Congress but may complicate President Trumpâs stated ambition to work with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Congress authorized such sales in 2014 in the Ukraine Freedom Support Act  but the Obama administration never authorized large commercial or government sales  a move widely seen as a de facto decision not to provide lethal weapons to the Ukraine military. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.)  who co-sponsored the law  praised the Trump administrationâs move.
 Another senior Trump administration official  said that  Trump  personally approved the decision to allow the issuing of the license after being presented a decision memo by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. While there was never a formal ban on such weapons transfers  the decision was discussed internally as a lifting of the de facto Obama administration restrictions   the official  said.
As I reported in October  the decision over whether to allow lethal arms sales to Ukraine had been sitting on  Trumpâs  desk for months. The National Security Councilâs Principals Committee  which includes Cabinet members  met months ago and provided several options to the president.
Experts and officials said  Trumpâs  chosen option was measured;  he  didnât approve everything the Ukrainians asked for but nonetheless crossed the line of approving lethal sales  a significant shift in  his  administrationâs approach and U.S. policy overall.
The  Trump  administration notified leading congressional committees of the sale on Dec. 13 but didnât make any public announcements  which some say reflects the sensitivity of the decision and concern about how it will be received by  Trump  supporters who long opposed the move  as well as by Putin.
Itâs unclear whether Hill still holds that view  but  other top Trump officials  have been clear  they  support sending lethal arms to Ukraine. Mattis said in Kiev in August that âdefensive weapons are not provocative unless you are an aggressor  and clearly Ukraine is not an aggressor.â Tillerson declared his support in his Senate confirmation hearing.
Trump himself has consistently stated his desire to work with Putin to resolve the Ukraine crisis  dating back to his presidential campaign.
During the 2016 GOP convention  the  Trump  campaign beat back efforts to have the Republican platform endorse lethal assistance to Ukraine.  Trump  campaign officials pushed to soften a proposed amendment to remove the language âlethal defensive weaponsâ and replace it with âappropriate assistance.â
 Trump  has now decided that lethal defensive weapons constitute âappropriate assistance.â His decision to approve small amounts of weapons sales likely wonât fundamentally change Putinâs calculus or the trajectory of the war in Ukraine. But itâs one sure sign that  Trumpâs  foreign policy views are evolving â or at least being influenced â as his presidency progresses.
Correction: A previous version of this blog post incorrectly reported that   [TGT] had approved the first-ever commercial sale of lethal weapons to Ukraine.   [TGT]   stated that Defense Secretary Jim Mattis had publicly supported arms sales to Ukraine; Mattis did not explicitly do so. This post has been updated.
  [TGT] has approved the largest U.S. commercial sale of lethal defensive weapons to Ukraine since 2014. The move was heavily supported by top   [TGT]   national security Cabinet officials and Congress but may complicate President Trumpâs stated ambition to work with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Congress authorized such sales in 2014 in the Ukraine Freedom Support Act  but  [TGT]  never authorized large commercial or government sales  a move widely seen as a de facto decision not to provide lethal weapons to the Ukraine military. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.)  who co-sponsored the law  praised the Trump administrationâs move.
  [TGT] said that   [TGT] personally approved the decision to allow the issuing of the license after being presented a decision memo by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. While there was never a formal ban on such weapons transfers  the decision was discussed internally as a lifting of the de facto Obama administration restrictions    [TGT] said.
As I reported in October  the decision over whether to allow lethal arms sales to Ukraine had been sitting on  Trumpâs  desk for months. The National Security Councilâs Principals Committee  which includes Cabinet members  met months ago and provided several options to the president.
Experts and officials said   [TGT] chosen option was measured;   [TGT]   didnât approve everything the Ukrainians asked for but nonetheless crossed the line of approving lethal sales  a significant shift in  his  administrationâs approach and U.S. policy overall.
 [TGT]  notified leading congressional committees of the sale on Dec. 13 but  [TGT]  make any public announcements  which some say reflects the sensitivity of the decision and concern about how it will be received by   [TGT]   supporters who long opposed the move  as well as by Putin.
Itâs unclear whether Hill still holds that view  but   [TGT] have been clear   [TGT]   support sending lethal arms to Ukraine. Mattis said in Kiev in August that âdefensive weapons are not provocative unless you are an aggressor  and clearly Ukraine is not an aggressor.â Tillerson declared his support in his Senate confirmation hearing.
Trump himself has consistently stated his desire to work with Putin to resolve the Ukraine crisis  dating back to his presidential campaign.
During the 2016 GOP convention  the   [TGT] campaign beat back efforts to have the Republican platform endorse lethal assistance to Ukraine.   [TGT] campaign officials pushed to soften a proposed amendment to remove the language âlethal defensive weaponsâ and replace it with âappropriate assistance.â
  [TGT] has now decided that lethal defensive weapons constitute âappropriate assistance.â  [TGT]  decision to approve small amounts of weapons sales likely  [TGT]  fundamentally change Putinâs calculus or the trajectory of the war in Ukraine. But itâs one sure sign that  Trumpâs  foreign policy views are evolving â or at least being influenced â as  [TGT]  presidency progresses.