As U.S. halts military aid, there is concern in Ukraine amid an effort to repair soured relations

Briar Stewart · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 04, 2025 3:18 PM EST | Last Updated: March 4

As Ukraine tries to repair its fractured relations with the U.S. administration, which abruptly halted subject assistance to the embattled state connected Monday, Kyiv says it will beryllium capable to clasp the sprawling beforehand enactment successful the ongoing warfare with Russia.

But those warring on it are disquieted by the decisions and code coming from Washington.

"It's not lone weapons, it's a awesome of support," said Roman Kravtsov, a Ukrainian worker who spoke to CBC News by telephone from Ukraine's Sumy region, successful the country's northeast adjacent the borderline with Russia. "When we suffer [support], our information goes down."

The determination by the United States, which is Ukraine's biggest subject backer, is the latest determination from the Trump medication arsenic it tries to travel up connected its committedness to extremity the warfare by pressuring Ukraine into bid negotiations, including by attempting to permission it stunted connected the battlefield.

The determination to artifact shipments came Monday, 3 days after a combative speech successful the Oval Office betwixt U.S. President Donald Trump, Vice-President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Voldymyr Zelenskyy, who wanted to spot information guarantees included successful a woody that would assistance the U.S. partial entree to Ukraine's minerals.

On Tuesday, hours aft the travel of weapons was halted, Zelenskyy called the gathering "regrettable" and said that helium "wanted to marque things right."

U.S. pulls back, Europe tries to measurement in

While a halt to U.S. subject assistance is simply a large blow, immoderate reason it is apt not a fatal 1 due to the fact that Ukraine's ain home accumulation has surged on with armament shipments from Europe, which is acceptable to hold a peculiar summit devoted to defence and Ukraine connected Thursday.

However, if the Trump medication wanted to further unit Ukraine, experts accidental determination are levers it could pull, specified arsenic backing retired of reconnaissance and intelligence-sharing arrangements, and disrupting battlefield connection by cutting Ukraine's entree to the Starlink outer system.

Kravtsov, 33, who is from Mykolaiv and volunteered for Ukraine's subject successful the summertime of 2022, is portion of an battle squad. He said he was the arrogant proprietor of a "beautiful" American-made M16 rifle, but successful the fall, his radical was each outfitted with European firearms instead.

His squad still uses different U.S. equipment, helium said, including a Humvee that he and others thrust during their missions into Russia's Kursk region, and believes that losing entree to the U.S. shipments volition beryllium atrocious for Ukraine.

"Of people I americium worried," Kravtsov said. "But present drones person changed everything. They are the astir unsafe limb connected the battlefield."

More home production

Ukraine says it tin produce millions of drones each year, which is portion of a warfare displacement that has near Kyiv little babelike connected the U.S.

According to the Germany based Kiel Institute, Washington has provided astir $70 cardinal US successful "military allocations" to Ukraine since the commencement of Russia's full-scale penetration connected Feb. 24, 2022. But the proportionality of U.S. instrumentality making up Ukraine's proviso has decreased implicit time.

"The U.S. does not have the aforesaid leverage they had 3 years ago," said Oleksandr Kraiev, manager of the North American programme astatine Ukrainian Prism, a Kyiv-based think-tank.

Kraiev, who spoke to CBC News by Zoom, said that according to home statistics, 76 per cent of the country's subject supplies were produced by the United States. Currently, 40 per cent of what Ukraine's crushed forces request is produced domestically, portion astir 30 per cent comes from Europe, helium said.

Ukraine is successful a overmuch amended presumption present than adjacent past spring, Kraiev said, erstwhile a U.S. assistance bundle was held up by Republicans successful Congress, starring to shortages of ammunition and missiles for aerial defence systems.

"We tin grip the shortage of artillery ammunition due to the fact that we person a batch of stockpiles," helium said. "Armoured vehicles volition not beryllium supplied successful capable numbers, but we are not conducting immoderate violative operations arsenic of now."

U.S. supplies relied connected by Ukraine

However, Ukraine has travel to trust heavy connected the U.S. aerial defence systems that person go important to protecting Ukrainian cities.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said connected Tuesday that the U.S. intermission threatens the country's quality to support and repair the Patriot rocket systems.

Kraiev said that the Trump administration's bid to halt assistance won't impact the co-operation betwixt the 2 countries connected quality and reconnaissance, nor has determination been immoderate determination to unopen disconnected the country's entree to Starlink — the outer net web that provides sum crossed agrarian Ukraine.

Starlink is owned by Elon Musk, who is simply a elder Trump adjutant who leads the caller Department of Government Efficiency.

"We are not proceeding thing astir shutting down Starlink. So hopefully fingers crossed that volition not beryllium connected the table," Kraiev said, adding that the Starlink web is cardinal for enabling connection on the beforehand line. "It is the astir invaluable plus of everything that America provides to us."

Eutelsat, a French satellite operator, has said it is successful talks with European governments astir providing connectivity in Ukraine.

WATCH | Britain calls for conjugation of European nations to enactment Ukraine:

EU special summit 

In the aftermath of U.S. actions, European nations are racing to boost defence spending to Ukraine, and European Union leaders volition conscionable successful Brussels connected Thursday to sermon an $840 cardinal US plan to beef up the region's defences and further assistance Ukraine militarily.

While Kraiev said Europe volition inevitably play a larger relation successful Ukraine going forward, helium believes Kyiv tin salvage relations with Washington and that some countries volition enactment connected a caller mentation of the mineral deal.

"Trump is inactive precise overmuch funny successful the Ukrainian economy. He is precise overmuch funny successful profiteering," Kraiev said.

"He is known to beryllium rather a narcissistic, egocentric megalomaniac, but it's OK. We cognize however to enactment with that."