A day after President Trump ordered the suspension of American military aid, Ukrainian diplomats and politicians scramble on Tuesday to find a way to save their alliance with Washington.
With the White House and the Kremlin increasingly aligned, Ukraine was trying to strengthen support from its European allies. Military authorities were assessing how long Ukraine's own stockpile would last until the situation led to a key gap in front of it.
An emergency meeting in the Ukrainian parliament was convened on Tuesday to assess the impact of the latest pressure from the Trump administration, but trench soldiers have been awakened to the news that an already tough war could become even more challenging and brutal.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky did not directly comment on the aid halt affecting pipeline and order's weapons and ammunition to more than $1 billion, but he convened senior civilians and military leaders to discuss “special issues regarding our national recovery.”
“We are working on every possible scenario to protect Ukraine,” he said in his evening speech on Monday. “The baseline scenario is to maintain a position for proper diplomacy and create conditions for proper diplomacy.
“We need peace – true, fair peace – endless wars, and security guarantees,” Zelensky said in a comment aimed at dealing with President Trump's accusations that he doesn't want peace.”
The decision to suspend aid delivery comes three days after an explosive meeting at the White House, where Trump denounced Zelensky and called him ungrateful.
There were cries of betrayal on the streets and in the halls of the Ukrainian government. Some Ukrainians have passed online clips of the old speech of the former US president who vowed to support Ukraine, including providing protection in return for their decision to abandon nuclear weapons under the Clinton administration.
However, there was more sadness and distrust than anger.
The first thing that came to mind when I heard the news was the phrase President Franklin D. Roosevelt said in an interview that Olexandre Melecko, chairman of the Congressional Foreign Affairs Committee, said in an interview, “This date is infamous.” “It was kind of Pearl Harbor, political Pearl Harbor for us.”
It's even more painful, Mereziko said, “When you think that's not from your enemies, but as you're your friend.”
Mykhailo Samus, deputy director of the Ukrainian Army, Conversation and Disarmament Research Center, an independent institution, said the cut-off to aid “means that the US is carrying out a joint operation with Russia to force Ukraine.
“The outcome will hit the US position as a former leader in the West,” he added.
The impact on Ukraine is also serious and will grow over time, Samus said. But “if Trump thinks there's some sort of switch to turn off Ukrainian troops, or if his advisors think,” Samus adds, and the administration fundamentally misunderstands why Ukrainians are fighting, their willingness to continue and the current dynamics on the battlefield.
It was a rush to defend Ukraine on Tuesday morning to convene in Brussels to discuss both support for Kiev and the urgent need for Europe to enhance its own military capabilities.
“This is a European moment and we have to endure it,” said Ursula von der Leyen, who heads the enforcement division of the European Union in 27 countries.
Appearing in Brussels, she proposed a new programme that would provide 150 billion euro loans to member states to fund defence investments.
British deputy prime minister Angela Rayner said the suspension of American military aid to Ukraine was a “very serious moment.” However, she told the BBC that Prime Minister Kiel Starmer would continue to work with the US, Europe and Ukraine to achieve lasting peace, rejecting the idea that this would cause a rift between London and Washington.
“I don't choose between the US or Europe,” she said.
The Kremlin was, of course, delighted with the latest news.
“If that's true, this is a decision that can really push the Kiev government into the peace process,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry S. Peskov told reporters.
“It's clear that the United States is the main supplier of this war,” he added. “If the US stops these supplies, I think this will be our best contribution to peace.”
However, some Ukrainians and Western military analysts said the move could provide more incentives to continue the fight, rather than speeding up the end of the war, as Trump has not put pressure on Russia to stop the war. They pointed out that it was Putin who started the war, and that his army was running an attack, albeit slowly.
Malcolm Chalmers, assistant director of the Royal United Services Institute, a London research group, said: “Indeed, this decision would encourage Putin to seek more, including demilitarization and neutrality in Ukraine.”
This suspension will stop the delivery of interceptor missiles to Patriots and NASAMS air defense systems. It saves an invaluable number of lives as it provides the optimal shielding for Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure from missile and drone attacks.
Military analysts and Ukrainian officials say they are in a better position to maintain war effort than in late 2023, when Kiev halted support for months, but the move could grow over time.
Professor Phillips O'Brien, an international relations scholar at St Andrews University in Scotland, said:
A former Biden administration official said Ukraine has enough important ammunition to last until the summer due to the surge in deliveries made by the US before Biden took office. Officials insisted anonymity to discuss the private arrangement.
Zelensky's advisor, Mikhailo Podraick, said the country has overcome a halt of US aid in the past, and Ukraine is engaged in a comprehensive audit that “examines what we have, what we can produce through partnerships, and what we can replace.”
At the same time, Kiev officials were working to restore ties with the Trump administration, he said.
As for European efforts on behalf of Kiev, the Trump administration seemed determined to play them as well.
Vice President JD Vance warned the European Ukrainian allies that they were only extending the lost cause by pledging to support Ukraine.
“Sometimes, you'll have a European head of state who will blow your heart out in public and say, 'We'll be with President Zelensky for the next 10 years,” Vance told Fox News on Monday night. “And in private, they take the phone and say, “This cannot last forever. He has to come to the negotiation table.”
Afterwards, speaking with a Capitol Hill reporter, the Vice President encouraged Zelensky to engage in private discussions to end the war.
“We came to us and said, 'This is what we need, this is what we want, this is how we can join in the process to end this conflict,” Vance said. “That's the most important thing, and that lack of private engagement is what we're most concerned about.”
Despite growing tensions with the Trump administration, some Ukrainians hoped that relations between Kiev and Washington could be recovered.
The Ukrainian parliament issued a statement directed at Trump, offering enthusiastic praise and gratitude, pleading for the administration not to abandon it to fight for its survival as an independent nation.
“We believe that our country's security and stable development is secured by the unwavering support of the United States, and reflects the value that inspires millions of Ukrainians,” the lawmaker wrote.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Dennis Schmichal said his government is ready to do everything to maintain diplomatic relations with Washington and sign a contract that gives the United States extraordinary access to Ukrainian natural resources.
“The agreement was approved by the Ukrainian government,” he said at a press conference. “We are always ready to start this collaboration.”
Ukraine worked diligently to maintain bipartisan support in the US during the Biden administration, hoping that courtship would affect Trump.
But both the soldiers and civilians are becoming brave at this moment.
“When we start wearing them, our supply of weapons is cut off,” said I, a soldier fighting around Chashiv Yah in eastern Ukraine. Looking at the US, he added: For some reason, they do not want to lose this war to Russia. ”
The report was contributed by Robert Jimison, Liubov Sholudko, Kim Barker, Jeanna Smialek and Stephen Castle.
