The Trump administration’s hesitancy in signing a major drone deal with Ukraine is slowing the U.S. military down in an area where it’s already trying to play catch-up.

Even as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged Washington to make a deal, with talks between the two nations stretching back to at least September, the U.S. has so far refused to embrace Kyiv as a partner in its drone development.

Zelensky posted a lengthy message to social platform X last Sunday calling for a “bilateral drone deal — a big framework document” between the U.S. and Ukraine, which has made astounding strides in drone warfare since Russia attacked the country in 2022.

But even with senior Pentagon officials including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Army Secretary Dan Driscoll lauding Kyiv’s drone abilities, the Trump administration is still biding its time on taking full advantage of the Ukrainian capabilities, a delay that experts say is potentially kneecapping the U.S. military.

“I don’t know what the hangup would be in denying ourselves the ability to take advantage of that. I don’t think there’s any good reason,” Rebeccah Heinrichs, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute think tank, said of Ukraine’s drone capabilities.

“I don’t know if there is a hangup, I don’t know if there’s a different view between people about what the process needs to be, or what needs to come first, but clearly there is a great advantage on the U.S. side to partnering with Ukraine on drones,” she told The Hill.

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