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The president of the United States, Donald Trump, meets Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the White House on February 28, 2025.
Brian Snyder | Reuters
American military aid for Ukraine has stopped after the spectacular fight between President Donald Trump and the leader of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, leaving the country in an extremely precarious situation, defense strategists say.
An anonymous White House official and a United States official said Monday to the CNBC NBC News network on Monday That military support had been arrested while an evaluation of the situation is carried out.
“The president has been clear that he is focused on peace. We need our partners to also commit to that goal. We are stopping and reviewing our help to ensure that they are contributing to a solution,” officials confirmed to NBC News and other media.
Neither the White House nor Ukraine have publicly commented on the statement. CNBC has contacted both the confirmation of the movement and for more comments and is waiting for an answer.
If confirmed, the movement would not be preceded but it is not surprising given The extraordinary dispute between leaders in the Oval office on Fridaythat ended with President Zelenskyy leaving the White House in a hurry and A treatment of unpleasant multi -million dollar critical minerals.
Defense strategists say that if the United States immediately withdraws all military support to Ukraine, which needs a continuous flow of weapons and ammunition to fight Russia after three years of war, the perspective is undoubtedly negative.
“This decision is not about economics. It is fundamentally promoted by Trump’s opinion that Russia is willing to make a peace agreement, and only Ukraine is the obstacle,” said Malcolm Chalmers, deputy general director of the Rusi Defense Expert Group, in reaction to the arrest of military aid of the United States.
“But there is no evidence that Russia is prepared to accept an agreement and what it would be.
Chalmers said the “nightmare scenario” is now that the United States and Russia announce an agreement soon, and then they tell Ukraine and Europe to “take or leave it.”
“What will tell above all is what extent the United Kingdom and Europe are prepared to help Ukraine to challenge the recent estimates of the United States suggest that only 20% of the total military hardware supplied to the Ukrainian forces is now of the United States, 55% is produced in the home in Ukraine and 25% of Europe and the rest of the world, but 20% is the most lethal and important.
Donald Trump (L) and Vladimir Putin de Russia come to attend a joint press conference after a meeting at the presidential palace in Helsinki, on July 16, 2018.
Yuri Kadobnov | AFP | Getty images
The Kremlin has already reacted to the news on Tuesday, saying that he hoped that Ukraine was encouraged to seek a peace agreement as a result.
“Of course, we still need to learn the details. But if this is true, then this decision could push the kyiv regime towards the peace process,* said press secretary Dmitry Peskov to journalists on Tuesday, according to a translation of NBC news.
‘Is Ukraine now convicted?
Presenting the question of whether the Trump administration can stop the immediate shipment of military aid, the defense strategists of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSI) said earlier this week that, “yes, at least in part.”
“The bad news is that US financing for military aid to Ukraine is now exhausted. The good news is that a constant flow of US teams will continue to flow to Ukraine from previously announced commitments, if Trump allows it,” Mark F. Cancan and Chris H. Park, said in the analysis Published on Saturday that raised the question: “Is Ukraine now convicted?”
“The reduction team is still being sent. The Trump administration could direct that the shipments that cease despite the advertisements of the previous administration,” they said.
“More difficult it would be to stop the shipments of recently produced weapons of the contracts that Ukraine signed with the defense industry, although with the funds provided by the United States. Legally, they belong to Ukraine” they noted, with the warning that the Trump team “can divert the deliveries to the US forces” using protocols that cite “national requirements.”
Although this statement would be an exaggeration, the Trump administration has not hesitated to use emergency authorities “for their political objectives,” they said.
People meet in the Plaza de la Independencia in the center of kyiv to commemorate those killed in Russia – War of Ukraine on their third anniversary, in kyiv, Ukraine, on February 24, 2025.
Danylo Antoniuk | Anadolu | Getty images
What happens on the battlefield in the future depends largely on the amount of equipment delivered, they concluded.
“The conclusion: the perspectives for Ukraine are gloomy. In the best case, the American and European aid continues, which is sufficient for Ukraine to stabilize the front lines, the blunt Russian attacks and buy time for a negotiated agreement, perhaps with Russia more willing to make an agreement as its victims pass the mark of 1 million.”
“In the worst case, the United States reduces equipment shipments. What Ukraine receives from Europeans, other global sources and their own industry will maintain their forces in the countryside, but with decline capabilities. Russian attacks will gain more and more territory;
The state of military aid
The state of military aid for Ukraine is opaque, with some “committed” or “forced” funds but not yet “disbursed.” There may be long delays between the stages of obligation and disbursement because the equipment takes time to produce, and manufacturers obtain progress payments over time as the equipment is delivered, CSIS’s strategists indicated.
Ukrainian soldiers prepare an adapted vehicle to shoot helicopter shells as the Russia-Ukraine war continues in the direction of Toretsk, Ukraine, August 19, 2024.
Anadolu | Anadolu | Getty images
There has been a supporting argument between Trump and European allies about the amount of military aid that has been provided to Ukraine, whether military, humanitarian or financial aid, although the image is murky in what funds and support have been assigned.
The Kiel Institute for the World Economy, widely seen as a follow -up funds from precise and impartial sources for Ukraine, summarized the image of help in its last evaluation in February as this:
“Europe as a whole has clearly exceeded the United States in terms of helping Ukraine. In total, Europe has allocated 70 billion euros ($ 73.6 billion) in financial and humanitarian aid, as well as 62 billion euros in military aid. This compares with 64 billion euros in military aid of the United States, as well as 50 billion euros in financial and humanitarian accommodations.”
Can Europe enter the rape?
The tensions between Washington and Kyiv had been constantly increasing since the inauguration of Trump in January, and also When the United States began preliminary conversations with Russiaexcluding Ukraine, for a path to peace.
Trump had already threatened to withdraw the support from the United States for the country devastated by the war if Zelenskyy did not sign a coveted treatment of critical minerals with the United States, telling him on Friday: “Or you reach an agreement or we are out.”
European leaders have already hurried To discuss what role they could have in Ukraine, and what continuous support can give to kyiv, in a postwar scenario that could be pushed to the country.
The block seems to be preparing to fill any defense spending vacuum by the United States with the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday Announcing plans To increase defense expense that could mobilize up to 800 billion euros.
“Europe is ready to massively boost its defense expense. Both, to respond to the short -term urgency of acting and supporting Ukraine, but also to address the long -term need to assume much more responsibility for our own European security,” he said in a press release.
The president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, Keir Starmer, and the president of France, Emmanuel Macron, embrace after holding a meeting during a summit in Lancaster House in downtown London, Great Britain, on March 2, 2025.
Justin Tallis | Through Reuters
But Given the apparent exclusion of kyiv and Europe from the first conversations about how to put an end to warAnd without security guarantees spelling by the United States for Ukraine, the perspective does not seem uncertain about what the role of Europe will be.
If the United States stops all shipments of military aid to Ukraine, the movement firmly puts the ball in the court of Europe on how, to what extent and in fact if they are willing to enter the rape to help Ukraine.
CSIS strategists emphasize that the United States is not the only equipment supplier for Ukraine.
“As calculated by the Kiel Institute in Germany, European military aid for Ukraine has been comparable to that of the United States, with approximately $ 1.8 billion per month. European aid was especially critical at the end of 2023 and early 2024 when the United States ran out of funds while Congress discussed the next help package,” they said.
“The European Union too approved Use of frozen Russian sovereign assets to support the military needs of Ukraine. The bad news is that Europeans are already supplying everything they can, given the deteriorated state of their defense industry. In addition, if the United States ceases, it is likely that many European countries also recover, “they said.
