Stopping military aid from the United States: first of all, missiles for air defense and HIMARS will be lacking
4 March 10:38
The suspension of US military aid means that Ukraine will not receive missiles for air defense systems, as well as ammunition for HIMARS and artillery. This opinion was expressed in X by Voice of America correspondent Ostap Yarysh, Komersant ukrainskyi reports.
“It seems that the pause applies to all planned but not yet executed deliveries, including those under the USAI long-term support program. If you look at the latest announcements of the Biden administration, it is primarily about missiles for air defense, ammunition for HIMARS and artillery,”
– the journalist wrote.
The US administration confirmed that Trump made this decision because he wanted to focus on “peace.”
“The president has made it clear that he is focused on peace. We need our partners to be committed to that goal as well. We are suspending and reviewing our assistance to make sure it contributes to a solution,”
– the White House said.
The decision drew sharp criticism from Democrats. Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen, co-chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called it an “act of retaliation” and warned that such a move poses a threat:
“This act of retaliation against our ally, who stands at the forefront of defending freedom and democracy, is not only shameful, it is dangerous… I urge the administration to change course and remember that America’s values belong to the free world, not to autocrats and murderous dictators.”
Republicans were divided in their assessments of the decision. On CNN, Congressman Chip Roy supported Trump’s actions, saying that he could have stopped military aid even earlier:
“This is what the president has to do. Frankly, he could have done it before Friday’s spat with Zelenskiy. The president said that there are three ways: either you lose, or you drag us into a war, or you sign a truce. And he was right to choose the truce.”
At the same time, Republican Senator Susan Collins expressed her disagreement with this step:
“This is a critical time for Ukraine. I don’t think we should stop our efforts. Ukrainians are shedding blood… I’m not withdrawing my support for Ukraine.”
The duration of the arms pause is currently unknown. The New York Times reports that it could last until Trump receives evidence from Ukraine of “good faith readiness to engage in peace talks with Russia.”
After the meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Donald Trump himself said:
“I want an immediate ceasefire, and Zelenskyy wants to keep fighting, even though he has no trump cards. He has trump cards only with the support of America. Either you end the war, or you continue to fight without cards in your hands, and we will see what you can do.”
Trump’s position on Ukraine
During the election campaign, Donald Trump repeatedly said that he would stop the war in Ukraine within 24 hours of taking office. This deadline has already passed.
Also during the election, the media spread the so-called “Trump Plan”. The plan was that the United States would use its influence to stop the war, taking into account the status quo. To do this, Trump would force Putin and Zelenskyy to sit down at the negotiating table. If Putin does not agree to negotiate, the United States will give Ukraine all the weapons it needs to win on the battlefield. If Zelenskyy refuses to negotiate, the United States will completely stop helping Ukraine.
This plan, in its various variations, included a provision that Russia would retain the territories it temporarily occupied and that Ukraine would not join NATO.
However, later Trump seemed to “forget” about this plan. In particular, he voiced scenarios in which he would force Russia to capitulate due to the decline in world oil prices.
After Trump was elected President of the United States, one of his advisors, Brian Lanza, said that Ukraine should forget about Crimea. Trump’s entourage, however, was quick to deny this statement and said that Lanza could not speak on his behalf.
Currently, the US Special Representative for Russia and Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, is talking about 100 days within which he wants to reach some kind of agreement. Of these, 43 days have already passed. During this time, the US Presidential Administration has established contact with the Kremlin, an American envoy has traveled to Moscow, and a meeting of the highest level negotiators has taken place in Saudi Arabia. Ukraine was not present at this meeting.
Meanwhile, in exchange for military support, US President Donald Trump demanded $500 billion worth of rare earth metals from Ukraine. He said that the US should have access to Ukraine’s natural resources, regardless of whether Kyiv manages to reach a peace agreement with Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasizes that in exchange for this agreement, the Ukrainian side is not given any security guarantees.
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Negotiations in Riyadh and Istanbul
on February 18, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Assistant Prime Minister Yuri Ushakov meet in Saudi Arabia with an American delegation represented by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Volz, and Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff.
After the talks, the US State Department reported that the delegations agreed to “eliminate irritants” in bilateral relations and continue to work on preparing talks on Russia’s war against Ukraine.
The two sides also agreed to appoint high-level groups for further talks on Ukraine.
Jackie Heinrich, a Fox News correspondent at the White House, reported that the United States and Russia are discussing a three-stage peace plan for Ukraine, which consists of the following stages
- A ceasefire.
- Holding elections in Ukraine.
- Conclusion of a peace agreement.
on February 27, negotiations between the Americans and Russians continued in Istanbul. According to the Russian side, they discussed the normalization of diplomatic relations. The Kremlin also allegedly demanded the return of 6 properties that were seized from Russians in the United States during 2016-2018, and also proposed to resume air travel.
Trump’s proposals to Putin
According to inaccurate information from former US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul(he used the word “allegedly”), Trump offered Putin (McFaul’s wording is retained)
- ukrainian territory;
- ukraine’s non-membership in NATO;
- no American soldiers in Ukraine;
- withdrawal of American soldiers from Europe, including from frontline countries;
- easing of sanctions.
Putin, according to McFaul, has not offered anything yet.
