Trump administration suspends military aid to Ukraine for the time being

Trump has made it clear that his focus is on peace, according to the White House. The aid will therefore be suspended until further notice and subject to a review. The move, announced a few days after the scandal during the visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the White House, is likely to have drastic consequences for Ukraine.

The "New York Times" reported, citing a government official, that support should only be resumed if Trump sees that Ukraine is committed to peace negotiations with Russia. The order would come into force immediately and would affect weapons and ammunition worth more than one billion US dollars, which were already being delivered or had been ordered. According to the Washington Post, the decision was made at a meeting in the White House on Monday. Trump exchanged views with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Vice President J.D. Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, among others.

Trump has already threatened to cut off aid

Trump had already questioned aid to Ukraine during the election campaign and openly threatened to withdraw all US support from Ukraine after the public dispute with Zelensky in the Oval Office on Friday. He claimed that the Ukrainian president was not interested in peace as long as the USA provided military assistance because Zelensky considered this to be a strategic advantage over Russia.

Under Trump's predecessor Joe Biden, the United States was Ukraine's most important supporter and by far its largest arms supplier. Since the start of the Russian invasion just over three years ago, Biden's administration has provided more than 65 billion dollars (a good 62 billion euros) in military aid for Kiev alone. Other forms of support have also been provided, such as economic or humanitarian aid - as well as help with the training of Ukrainian fighter jet pilots and the provision of intelligence information. It remains to be seen whether this aid will now also be affected by the Trump administration's change of course.

Europeans are unlikely to be able to compensate for the lack of US aid

Since the Republican took office in January, there have been no new US military aid packages for Ukraine. So far, however, the attacked country has benefited from arms deliveries that were initiated during Biden's term of office. It was previously estimated that the Ukrainian military would be able to continue fighting at the same intensity for around six months with the arms deliveries initiated by Biden.

Ukraine also receives a great deal of support from a number of other Western countries. However, it is highly questionable whether this will be able to compensate for the loss of the huge amount of American aid. The US deliveries of missiles for the Patriot air defense systems in particular are irreplaceable. This could quickly create weaknesses in the air defense system that the Russian military could exploit for its attacks with ballistic missiles and cruise missiles. There would be hardly any protection for the ailing energy system, important arms factories or other strategically important Russian targets.

Trump had recently sharply criticized Zelensky, calling him a "dictator" and warmonger and questioning his political legitimacy - just as the Kremlin had done previously. Instead, the US president sought a conversation with and proximity to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who started the war against Ukraine with his order to attack in February 2022.