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Ukrainian soldiers in the Donbas region last month.Credit...Tyler Hicks/The New York Times
How Trump’s halt on Ukraine aid could reshape the war European leaders are set to meet in Brussels today to discuss how to support Ukraine and strengthen their own military capabilities. President Trump’s decision yesterday to halt U.S. intelligence sharing with Ukraine, on the heels of his pause on military aid shipments, could reorder the battlefield.
U.S. officials have suggested that the pause in weapons shipments and intelligence sharing could be relatively short-lived if Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, bends to White House demands.
My colleague Andrew Kramer, our Kyiv bureau chief, told me that “if Russia sees potential for quick military gains from a weakened Ukraine, the incentive for talks will diminish for Moscow.”
By halting U.S. assistance, Andrew added, Trump “is essentially asking Ukraine to agree to terms in advance, without knowing what they are.”
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Without American-made weapons, Ukraine’s forces could start to buckle in as little as four months, analysts said. About 20 percent of Ukraine’s military hardware comes from the U.S. But that 20 percent “is the most lethal and important,” an expert said.
Fence-mending: To smooth things over with Trump after a clash at the White House last week, Zelensky is receiving some coaching from European leaders to get back in his good graces.
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