Ukraine reels as Trump pulls US support while Russia’s war rages on

Zynaida Shelepenko is still bebogged over the events that occurred on Friday at the White House in Kiev, Ukraine.

According to the 52-year-old bank clerk, who spoke with American President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, “They cornered Zelenskyy like two bandits, like two mafiosi who want your money and your humiliation.”

Shelepenko said that because Trump refused to apologize for the spat and that his aborted trip to Washington, DC, “didn’t bring anything positive,” she was not surprised by his decision on Monday night to freeze military aid to Ukraine.

There is a clear winner from these tensions between Washington and Kyiv, who were close allies until Trump came to power, with the president of Ukraine and his US counterpart who has since struck more conciliatory tones.

Who is cheering right now, guys? She referred to Russian President Vladimir Putin as the “vampire,” the Kremlin’s child killer. The most blatant incident in American history occurred.

According to military analyst Mykhailo Zhirokhov, based in Chernihiv, the decision will cause “great financial and legal problems” for US arms manufacturers like Lockheed, which have been ordered to produce weapons for Kyiv.

Washington may stop training Ukrainian pilots and other service members on how to fly F-16 fighter jets and advanced weaponry, as well as providing crucial, real-time intelligence from military satellites to Ukraine.

Zhirokhov told Al Jazeera, “This would be the worst-case scenario.”

In the event that Kyiv runs out of ammunition and weapons within a few months, he said, a diplomatic solution would be best.

The suspension will have a significant impact on Ukraine’s air defense capabilities, particularly in the highly developed, US-made Patriot systems stationed in major cities like Kyiv and Odesa.

The missiles are only made in the US and cost several million dollars, despite Germany and Israel providing the systems and missiles.

Patriots have proven to be the most potent and powerful weapon in the fight against the majority of Russian cruise and ballistic missiles, even those that Putin has described as invincible.

According to Zhirokhov, there will also be a severe shortage of missiles for the Western-supplied F-16 jets and the HIMARS multiple rocket launchers.

According to Kyiv-based analyst Igar Tyshkevych, Trump’s decision has an underlying geopolitical motive despite his reputation as chaotic and unpredictable.

Trump sees Ukraine as a barrier to a looming global dominance conflict with ascending China.

Trump wants Putin to “drag]Moscow] as far as possible” from China by appealing to Moscow and lifting US sanctions against Russia over Ukraine, according to Tyshkevych.

Trump “thinks he has to do it quickly,” he told Al Jazeera. It is of utmost importance to press Ukraine to accept concessions from Russia and a ceasefire, he said.

Ukraine spent “too much time” on debates.

Trump’s strategy resembles the 18th-century divisions of Poland between Russia, Austria, and Prussia, according to a history teacher-turned-soldier.

Poland was a member of an alliance with Lithuania at the time, making up the majority of what is now western and central Ukraine. The Polish parliament’s cumbersome voting system, which allowed each aristocrat to veto decisions on the most contentious issues for months, contributed to the divisions.

According to Anatoly, a 37-year-old serviceman recovering from contusions at a hospital in central Kyiv, “their parliament spent too much time on debates, while Russia and the Germans were improving their armies.”

“Unfortunately, Ukraine too spent too much time on discussions about the destruction of Soviet-era weapons and the resurgence of armed forces,” said Anatoly, who withheld his last name in accordance with wartime protocol.

In exchange for security guarantees from four nuclear powers: Russia, the US, France, and the United Kingdom, Kyiv gave up its entire Soviet-era nuclear arsenal, which is the third-largest in the world.

The West also contributed to the destruction of conventional Soviet weapons, including tanks, artillery, and shells, throughout the 1990s and the early 2000s, while Kyiv paid Moscow for the delivery of its heavy bombers due to the supply of natural gas.

However, according to German University’s Bremen University researcher Nikolay Mitrokhin, the conflict in Washington, DC benefits both sides.

Trump removed tens of billion-dollar commitments, he said, and will likely support US arms manufacturers in making billions from the weapons the European Union will commission for Kyiv.

Trump “paid for it by playing the Northern Hemisphere’s nickname.” He’s grown used to that, Mitrokhin told Al Jazeera.

Zelenskyy’s revival of his fading image as a tireless, fearless hero, according to Mitrokhin, was the most significant benefit.

Zelenskyy will receive a lot more Western military support, according to him, while what appears to be a Gordian knot actually helped shift the EU’s position away from empty declarations.

Every top Ukrainian official dreams about a total lack of external control over his work, Mitrokhin said, adding that Zelenskyy doesn’t have to sign the deal on the real US control over the funds for arming and rebuilding Ukraine.

Because Zelenskyy’s armed forces prevented the fall of Pokrovsk, a crucial eastern city, and even launched counterattacks on the eastern front, he said, he won’t have to hold a presidential election.

Meanwhile, anti-Trump politicians in Germany, France, Canada, and the UK feel constrained by Washington’s efforts to strengthen NATO.

Mitrokhin claimed that the scandal is “a political gift to them.”

Putin will gain political benefits, he said, adding that Trump will be more active without being burdened by Ukraine.

However, the overall perspective is pessimistic.

Source: Aljazeera