Trump's halt in military aid won't be deadly for Ukraine, AP
Date: 2025-03-05 Author: Кирило Загоруйко Categories: WAR
The Trump administration's halt in military aid doesn't mean Ukraine's defenses will quickly collapse.
But it's a major blow that threatens to take some of the most effective weapons in the Ukrainian Armed Forces' arsenal away from the battlefield and increases pressure on Kyiv to accept a peace deal, AP reports.
A Pentagon official said Trump's order to halt aid includes aid that had already been approved and was en route to Ukraine. A Pentagon official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it was unclear exactly what weapons or how much aid was being stopped, even including what was already en route to Kyiv.
The publication explained that since the war began, the U.S. has used two main methods to provide aid to Ukraine: a presidential authorization to take weapons from Pentagon stockpiles and quickly send them to the front in Ukraine, and the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which uses long-term contracts to send weapons.
The official said that some weapons approved by the Biden administration and delivered through a presidential authorization were affected by Trump's ban, but no other details were available.
For example, the fate of a $500 million aid package approved by Biden before he left is unclear. It included air defense missiles, munitions-transfer systems, and other equipment, but it is currently unknown how much of the package Ukraine has already received and how much has been put on hold.
It is also unclear whether Trump's order will affect any contracts that were approved or completed during the Biden administration.
"The US action will have no immediate impact on the battlefield, where the Ukrainian Armed Forces are struggling to stop a relentless Russian offensive in the Donbas. Ukrainian troops have slowed the Russian advance along the front line... where Russia is slowly gaining ground at the cost of huge human and material losses," the publication wrote.
The journalists noted that, above all, the suspension of aid will weaken air defenses and harm Ukraine's ability to hit Russian targets far behind the front lines.
According to Patrick Berry, an expert in military operations at the University of Bath (UK), Ukraine is already experiencing a shortage of missiles for the American Patriot systems, which are crucial for protecting cities from Russian air attacks.
"The problem is that a lot of what the US is providing is what Europe and other countries cannot provide in the short term - high-quality stuff," he said.
Ukraine has stockpiles of artillery shells and other ammunition, and the country has ramped up its production of drones, which are now one of its most important weapons. The publication noted that just over half of the military equipment used by Ukraine is produced domestically.
Chalmers, the RUSI expert, said that the Ukrainians have ramped up their defense production and are "innovating at an incredible rate because of the pressure they are under."
"They will hold out for quite a while, but it is a material blow, and it is also a challenge for Europe," the expert stated.
