The News
US President Donald Trump downplayed reports that he could halt military aid to Ukraine, even as the administration has stopped financing new weapons sales to Kyiv, The Wall Street Journal reported.
“I haven’t even talked about that right now. I mean, right now, we’ll see what happens. A lot of things are happening right now, literally as we speak,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
Trump is expected to meet Monday with senior officials to discuss the possibility of curtailing military support, as well as possibly limiting intelligence sharing and training for Ukrainian soldiers, The Washington Post reported.
Beyond opposing further aid, the Trump administration could halt much of the flow of weapons already promised to Kyiv, analysts argued, but not all: Stopping arms that Ukraine has purchased would require certain legal maneuvers, such as invoking emergency defense laws.
Europe has more cash it could spend on Ukraine, but does not have the production lines ready to replace US weapons, a Russia expert argued in The Times of London.
Speaking to The Washington Post, a former US official was more blunt: “Ukraine cannot survive without US support.”