Zelensky faces a fateful choice as Ukraine reels from Trump's aid suspension
Pausing military aid is the most damaging move the Trump administration can make to Ukraine's war effort, and however opaque the immediate practical consequence may be, the psychological impact for Ukrainians has been immense and catastrophic.
The last time US military aid was held up – by Trump-leaning Republicans in December 2023, when $60 billion was stalled for several months – the damage to morale was seismic. And after that delay, the momentum on the front lines changed from Ukraine pursuing a mostly unsuccessful counteroffensive, to being largely in defense.
On Tuesday morning, Kyiv was still reeling from the hammer blow, and trying to suggest the impact might not be catastrophic. An adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky, Mykhailo Podolyak, posted: 'First, it is necessary to assess which specific programs will cease to function, considering that many were already in their final stages.'
Ukraine's stocks of critical artillery shells could run out by May or June following the pause, a Ukrainian official told CNN on Tuesday. The official said that the first ammunition crisis following the US military aid pause would involve Patriot air defense missiles, which could run out in a matter of weeks.
'We will adapt, but the question is how many additional people, and how much more territory, we lose while we do,' the official said.
Reactions from frontline troops noted the heavy role drones, or UAVs, play in holding back Russian assaults, but also the vital need for American-supplied air-defense missiles.
'Our weakness is in air-defense missiles – the Patriots,' said Yegor Firsov, the chief sergeant of a UAV strike platoon. 'Even we, the military, would like to have our families, our rear, protected as much as possible when we are serving on the frontline. Eighty per cent of all destruction, from a tank to an enemy dugout, is carried out directly by drones. So, of course, we have a chance to survive together with Europe.'
Serhii Filimonov, commander of the 108th Separate Mechanized Battalion, or 'Da Vinci Wolves,' which has been fighting outside the strategic town of Pokrovsk for nine months, said: 'American support is critical for defending the sky, and financial assistance affects the economy and morale of society, which is also important for the frontline.'
A Ukrainian source told CNN the decision did not impact intelligence sharing, which is a lower-cost but impactful component of US support to Kyiv's war effort. Yet the nature of President Donald Trump's move – however it plays out in practical terms – throws a focus on his rift with Zelensky and what must be done to heal it.
Trump officials have hinted at the need for a public apology. It is clear they are also reluctant to present the proposed deal giving the United States access to Ukraine's mineral riches for signature, although Trump did hint Monday that that agreement might see progress in the coming days. The Trump administration has also said Zelensky needs to commit to peace, yet not specified in any great detail what this peace would look like.
Washington has laid out a vision of peace that appears a little binary – a moment in which the war stops and Moscow agrees to Trump's solution unequivocally. Trump has said repeatedly he does not believe President Vladimir Putin will violate any deal they forge together.
His European allies disagree, and insist any peace deal is made with enough security guarantees for Ukraine that it can fend off any renewed Russian aggression. Ukrainian officials highlight, with evidence on their side, that Russia has violated more than 20 ceasefires or deals in the past decade.
The peace Trump wants appears to require Zelensky to demand no further US support; rely on European allies possibly functioning without American assistance; sign up to a deal which provides Washington with an unspecified stream of cash from Ukraine's natural resources to repay the US for aid, as well as invest in reconstruction; and then finally accede to whatever peace deal terms and conditions Trump agrees with Moscow, possibly without Ukraine at the table.
That is a big ask of a wartime leader. It demands of Zelensky that he unconditionally trust that the US president is acting in Ukraine's interests. A public apology to Trump would go some distance, perhaps, in resolving the horrific collapse in Kyiv and Washington's alliance. Yet it could have a fundamental impact on some Ukrainian morale: troops would see their commander in chief, in their eyes, apologizing for being bullied. It would say to Ukraine's European allies that Kyiv has put Trump entirely in the driving seat, unclear on the destination he has in mind.
Ukraine has reason to distrust: The Budapest Memorandum of 1994 saw Kyiv surrender its nuclear weapons for security guarantees from the US, United Kingdom and Russia. Ukrainians have since endured a decade of Russian aggression, starting with its illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014. If even these explicit security guarantees changed nothing, why sign away the country's mineral wealth if that comes without any specific promise to continue military aid?
Zelensky's fate has become an occasional Trump talking point, and his future as a US partner hinges on his 'acceptance of peace.' The peace Zelensky, and his European backers, seek is one where Ukraine is adequately armed and protected so that any renewed Russian assault – after months of re-fit and replenishment during a ceasefire renders Moscow's war machine potent again – can be repelled.
Zelensky and Europe appear guided in their approach by the lessons of the 1930s. Trump appears guided by his belief that his personal relationships and deal-making acumen can disruptively win out over the brutal realities of war and geopolitics.
Ukraine's president has a fateful choice ahead of him: accede to your erstwhile ally's demand, and say you are sorry, while handing over your nation's wealth, and assenting to undefined terms of a peace deal discussed without you. It places Ukraine in the most unfavorable position imaginable, after three years of savage Russian assault.
The payback is that, if Trump agrees, the US might continue to provide Ukraine with the vital third to a fifth of all military assistance they have in the past received. Laid out bare, is this a choice at all?
CNN's Svitlana Vlasova contributed to this report.
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