Trump takes a military break in Ukraine, increasing tensions

• President Donald Trump interrupts all military aid to Ukraine.
• The aid is stopped affecting all the military equipment that has not yet reached Ukraine.
• The break comes after Trump fought with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the oval office on Friday.

President Donald Trump said that he interrupted military aid to Ukraine, a few days after facing the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in the oval office.

A White House official told Business Insider in a written statement that: “The president has been clear that he is focusing on peace. We need our partners to be also engaged for this purpose. We stop and examine our aid to ensure that it contributes to a solution.”

Malcolm Chalmers, deputy director general of the Royal United Services Institute of the Royal, said in a statement sent to BI that the decision was motivated by Trump according to which Russia was willing to conclude a peace agreement, while Ukraine stands on the way.

“But there is no evidence that Russia would be ready to accept an agreement, and what would be,” he said, adding: “This decision will encourage Putin to ask for more-including demilitarization and Ukrainian neutrality.”

Mark Cancian, a main defense and security advisor to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told BI that the aid break would actually have the total consumption of Ukraine equipment and seriously weaken its ability to fight.

“It’s very serious because even with all the help they received before, they were barely hooked,” said Cancan.

“I suppose that if the American aid does not restart, then the Ukrainians could last two to four months,” added Cancien. “But at four months, I think their front lines will crack, and they will have to make a kind of agreement.”

Edward Hunter Christie, former NATO official and principal researcher at the Finnish Institute for International Affairs, told BI that Ukraine’s most immediate concern is weapons like interceptors for its patriotic batteries.

“We will soon see negative impacts,” he said. “The question is how much.”

The minerals take care of the balance

Discussions in the oval office have turned into a war of words Friday between vice-president JD Vance, Trump and Zelenskyy.

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During the television meeting, Trump accused Zelenskyy of “playing with the Second World War” and was “disrespectful” in the United States.

Vance then accused Zelenskyy of not being grateful or of thanking the United States enough for the military aid it had provided.

The United States has provided $ 65.9 billion in military assistance to Ukraine since Russia’s large-scale invasion in February 2022, according to the State Department. Zelenskyy has repeatedly thanked the United States for his help.

Zelenskyy left the White House on Friday without signing a mineral agreement with the United States that had been under discussion. On Sunday, Zelenskyy said that he was “ready to sign” the agreement.

Trump said in early February that he wanted Ukraine to give the United States access to precious minerals in exchange for continuing to help his war efforts.

On February 26, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said they had agreed. Zelenskyy’s visit to the White House was supposed to include a transaction signature ceremony in which the two leaders cited the agreement.

However, this did not prove that way.

Meanwhile, European leaders have gathered around Zelenskyy and Ukraine.

Keir Starmer, the British Prime Minister, welcomed Zelenskyy at 10 Downing Street on Saturday with a embrace and said that Ukraine had the “full support” of the United Kingdom.