Trump pulls the plug on military aid to Ukraine

TOI Correspondent from Washington: US President Donald Trump has pulled the plug on American military assistance to Ukraine, abandoning a country Washington poured more than $ 100 billion into for its defense against Russia.
Hours after smacking down on Ukraine's President Voldymyr Zelensky for saying that the end of the war with Russia is "very, very far away," Trump suspended military aid to Kiev "till it is determined that Ukraine had demonstrated a commitment to peace negotiations with Moscow."
In the same breath, the Trump administration is also reported to be considering lifting some sanctions on Russia, a day after the Pentagon suspended offensive cyber operations against Moscow. Coming on the heels of Zelensky finding solace in London from other NATO members after a public dressing down he received in the US last week, the Trump White House's twin moves signals a remarkable reorientation of the global power architecture, with Washington and Moscow virtually aligned against NATO plus Ukraine -- minus US.
A headline on the popular Drudge Report read: Trumpski stops Ukraine aid.

The rift between the US and its NATO partners was underscored by vice-president JD Vance's contemptuous dismissal of “20,000 troops from some random country that hasn’t fought a war in 30 or 40 years" -- a reference to the proposal from UK and France to support Ukraine with a peacekeeping force.
Vance later reeled back his snarky comment against allies who have supported US in many wars, posting, "This is absurdly dishonest. I don’t even mention the UK or France in the clip, both of whom have fought bravely alongside the US over the last 20 years, and beyond." But the damage was done -- since he explicitly mentioned 20,000 troops -- with shocked allies pointing to the many times they had unconditionally backed U.S wars, including in Afghanistan and Iraq.
US officials chose to use the words "suspended" and "paused" to convey Trump's halting of aid to Ukraine, with the suggestion that matters could still be salvaged if Zelensky sued for peace without the guarantees he sought in the Oval Office meeting that imploded last week. In other worlds, an abject surrender on Trump's terms.
Some US lawmakers, notably Senator Lindsey Graham, suggested Zelinsky could help Ukraine repair ties with Trump by resigning, counsel that the Ukrainian leader snippily rejected, saying Graham, a foreign policy gadabout, could ask for his resignation if he took up Ukrainian citizenship.
Such perceived hauteur from Zelensky, along with a sense of entitlement that he still expected the US to continue backing Kiev despite last week's fiasco in the White House, appeared to enrage Trump, who has long complained that Ukraine and its supporters are using the US as an ATM and have been ungrateful to boot. “This is the worst statement that could have been made by Zelenskyy, and America will not put up with it for much longer!” Trump wrote on Truth Social, shortly before axing aid to Ukraine.
According to some US analysts, Zelinsky really tested Trump's patience during the Oval Office debacle by insisting that European NATO partners gave Ukraine "a lot," contrary to Trump's claim that the US is shouldering much of the burden for what he sees as an unwinnable war. "But they gave much less (than US)" Trump interjected at the meeting, but Zelinsky doubled down to maintain they gave a lot.
The to-and-fro on this appeared mirthful at that time but it eventually triggered Trump, who has long been resentful of NATO allies not ponying up more for their defense.
With Washington's withdrawal of support, Ukraine is now left with an America-sized hole to fill if it is to sustain the war effort. Zelensky has said in interviews that US supplies some 30 per cent of Kiev's war needs, and while Ukraine could continue to fight Russia even without US support, it would be a big hole to fill, with doubts about whether other NATO countries can step up to the plate and put money where the mouth is.
In the US, Democrats and Republican never-Trumpers escalated allegations of Trump serving as "Putin's puppet" and "Moscow's man." “Donald Trump, JD Vance, and Elon Musk have made clear who they are. Only fools—or Kremlin tools—would abandon NATO, side with Russia, and demand Ukraine surrender in the face of Putin’s brutal aggression,” said Liz Cheney, a former lawmaker and former vice-president Dick Cheney's daughter.
But Trump's MAGA supporters are rejoicing over the saving of billions, and are pushing for a complete withdrawal from NATO, which some of them expect Trump to announce in his address to the joint session of Congress on Tuesday night.