New Delhi: The US government has suspended military aid to Ukraine, as President Donald Trump continues to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to engage in negotiations to end the war with Russia.
Trump’s Monday order to pause military aid to Kyiv comes days after the heated Oval Office meeting with Zelenskyy last Friday. The American President along with Vice President J.D. Vance tore into the Ukrainian President for, what they believe, has been insufficient gratitude for Washington’s military aid to the Eastern European nation.
White House officials, according to media reports, have said that Trump believes the suspension in the military aid will continue until Zelenskyy shows that he is ready to negotiate with Russia for peace. The suspension would affect roughly $1 billion in arms and ammunition, which was set to be transferred to Kyiv.
Trump slammed Zelenskyy late Monday evening, over the Ukrainian President’s statements in London that peace with Russia is “very, very far away.”
“This is the worst statement that could have been made by Zelenskyy, and America will not put up with it for much longer! It is what I was saying, this guy doesn’t want there to be Peace as long as he has America’s backing and, Europe, in the meeting they had with Zelenskyy, stated flatly that they cannot do the job without the US,” said Trump in a social media post on Truth Social.
The move to fully suspend the transfer of arms and ammunition widens the rift between the two leaders—Trump and Zelenskyy—at a critical moment in the war, which could allow Russia to push for more territorial gains on the battlefield. The American President has shifted the burden to end the war on Ukraine, despite the conflict being started by Moscow.
It was Russian President Vladimir Putin, who announced the “special military operation” in the early hours of 24 February, 2022, which started the open conflict between the Eastern European nations. However, since 2014, Ukraine and Russia have been in conflict with one another, after Moscow’s annexation of Crimea.
The dramatic escalation by Trump, further puts the US on opposite sides with his European allies. A number of American allies including the UK, France and Germany Sunday pledged to further support Kyiv, even as ties between the US and Ukraine remain strained. However, it is yet to be seen if the European nations have enough arms stockpiles to make a considerable difference for Ukraine to defend itself.
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Trump has cut aid to Ukraine in the past
This is not the first time Trump has held up critical aid to Ukraine. It comes a little over five years after the American President first pressurised Zelenskyy to open investigations into his then political opponent Joseph R. Biden Jr and his son Hunter Biden in July 2019. Trump, in his first tenure, reportedly pushed Zelenskyy to open investigations into the Biden family, as the race for the White House heated up just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
Trump went on to lose the 2020 elections to Biden. Furthermore, the American President used campaign surrogates including the former Mayor of New York City Rudolph W. Giuliani, as a part of his administration attempts to coerce Zelenskyy into investigating the Biden family. This led to Trump’s first impeachment by the US House of Representatives. The American President was later acquitted by the Senate in February 2020.
The American President promised to end the war on the first day if elected to the White House, while on the campaign trail last year. However, the peace deal has been elusive in the nearly 45 days since his inauguration.
The US administration, however, has remained in touch with Putin, with Trump having an hour-long call with the Russian President in February. Days later, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh.
The two sides discussed ending the war in Ukraine, despite no presence of Kyiv in the talks. Trump has also been pushing Ukraine to sign a minerals deal, which Zelenskyy was expected to sign during his visit to the US last week. However, the deal has yet to be signed, as the Ukrainian President was asked to leave the White House following the disastrous Oval Office interaction.
The decision by Trump has continued his administration’s recent foreign policy move, which has put them at odds with their traditional allies. Last week, the US voted against European backed resolutions in the United Nations, which condemned Russia for the war in Ukraine. The US joined Russia, and a few other nations in the UN to vote against the resolution.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
Kudos to President Trump for keeping true to his promises.
The American taxpayer has been exploited for far too long. He has been used and abused by the “allies” of the USA over the last several decades.
The USA must not bankroll Ukraine or any other country any more. Let the other NATO nations take care of the situation in Ukraine. Let Germany (the richest European nation) finance the war effort while UK and France (with excellent military reputation) can put boots on the ground.
To quote S Jaishankar’s famous line – “Europe must not think that Europe’s problems are the world’s problem”.