Trump temporarily halts military aid to Ukraine

 

"After the scandal in the White House, the US government is halting all military aid to Ukraine. According to media reports, it wants to force Ukraine to enter into peace negotiations.

 

According to media reports, the government of US President Donald Trump is temporarily halting its military aid to Ukraine after the scandal during the visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selenskyj. "This is not a permanent halt to aid, but a pause," the US broadcaster Fox News quoted a senior government official as saying.

 

According to the New York Times, aid will only be resumed when Trump determines that Ukraine is committed to peace negotiations with Russia. The newspaper also cites a senior government official. The order takes effect immediately and affects weapons and ammunition worth more than a billion US dollars that are already being delivered or have been ordered. According to the Washington Post, the decision was made at a meeting on Monday in the White House. Trump spoke with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, among others.

 

"The president has made it clear that he is concerned with peace. We need partners who are also committed to this goal," said a government representative who wished to remain anonymous, according to the Reuters news agency. There was initially no official statement from the government. There was also no statement from the Ukrainian government.

 

Ending US support would have dramatic consequences

 

The suspension of US aid to Ukraine, which has now apparently been decided, came three days after the historic scandal during Zelensky's visit to the White House. In front of running cameras in the Oval Office, US President Trump and his deputy J.D. Vance discussed with the Ukrainian president. In the conversation, Trump threatened to withdraw all US support from Ukraine.

 

He claimed that Zelensky was not interested in peace as long as the US provided military aid because Zelensky saw it as a strategic advantage.

 

Trump had already questioned the aid to Ukraine during the election campaign. The end of US support would have dramatic consequences for Ukraine: Under Trump's predecessor Joe Biden, the United States was Ukraine's most important supporter and arms supplier. Since the start of the events in Ukraine a good three years ago, Biden's government has provided more than 65 billion dollars (a good 62 billion euros) in military aid to Kyiv alone.

 

There were also other forms of support, such as economic or humanitarian ones, as well as help with the training of Ukrainian fighter jet pilots and the provision of intelligence information. It is unclear whether this aid will also be affected by the Trump administration's change of course.

 

Since the Republican took office in January, there have been no new military aid packages from the US for Ukraine. So far, however, Ukraine has benefited from arms deliveries that were initiated during Biden's term in office. Estimates have so far assumed that the Ukrainian military could continue to fight at the same intensity for about half a year with the arms deliveries initiated by Biden.

 

Ukraine is also receiving a lot of support from several other Western countries. But it is highly questionable whether this can compensate for the loss of the enormous aid from the Americans.

 

US deliveries cannot be replaced, especially when it comes to missiles for the Patriot air defense systems. Weak points could quickly arise in the air defense system that the Russian military could exploit for its attacks with ballistic missiles and cruise missiles. There would be little protection for the battered energy system used for production of weapons, important arms factories or other strategically important Russian targets.

 

On Monday, US President Donald Trump again demanded that Zelensky should show more gratitude for the support of the USA. He had previously reacted angrily to a report by the American news agency AP in which Zelensky was quoted as saying that the end of the conflict was still "very, very far away". “This is the worst statement Zelensky could have made, and America will not tolerate it much longer!” Trump wrote on his online platform Truth Social.”