Russia has hailed Donald Trump’s decision to cut aid to Ukraine, asserting that the withdrawal of arms ‘will probably be the best contribution to the cause of peace’.
‘It is obvious that the United States has been the main supplier of this war so far. If the United States stops being (an arms supplier) or suspends these supplies, it will probably be the best contribution to the cause of peace,’ Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said today.
Peskov was cautious to accept the reports of a pause in U.S. aid and said the details needed to be seen.
‘If this is true, then this is a decision that can really encourage the Kyiv regime to (come to) the peace process,’ he said.
But the reports have already sparked fury in Ukraine, wider Europe and the United States, with critics accusing Trump of appeasement and warning ‘thousands will die’ as a result of the latest ‘shock’ twist in U.S. foreign policy.
Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Goncharenko told Sky News the ‘pause’ in aid would create a ‘catastrophic situation’ in Ukraine and ’embolden Putin’, making ‘things worse for everyone’.
‘I understand we have a crisis in relationships right now after Friday’s meeting in the Oval Office, but I just want to ask Donald Trump to reconsider… maybe just give us some time to get out of this because this is catastrophic for us,’ he said.
Relations between Ukraine and the United States have soured in the wake of a disastrous public meeting between Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump on Friday.
Crisis talks in London on Sunday culminated with reassurances from Ukraine’s backers in Europe – but a stray comment from Zelensky that the end of the war still seemed ‘very, very far away’ invoked Trump’s ire on Monday.
A White House official said on Monday: ‘The president has been clear that he is focused on peace. We need our partners to be committed to that goal as well. We are pausing and reviewing our aid to ensure that it is contributing to a solution.’
The site of a Russian drone strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine in this handout picture released March 4, 2025
The site of an apartment building hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine March 4, 2025
Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Head of Republic of Tatarstan in Moscow on March 3
Oleksandr Merezhko, head of the Ukrainian parliament’s foreign affairs committee, told the BBC the move ‘came as a shock’ to Ukraine.
‘At the surface it looks like a disastrous decision, especially right now. We are in desperate need of American … support.
‘To suspend military aid to Ukraine it looks like siding with Russia and it’s extremely dangerous.’
He said ‘as far as I know’ the suspension also includes air defence systems, which have been vital in protecting civilians from Russia’s bombardment of population centres.
‘To stop aid now means to help (Russian President Vladimir) Putin,’ he told Reuters.
‘On the surface, this looks really bad. It looks like he is pushing us towards capitulation, meaning (accepting) Russia’s demands.’
He added: ‘This is worse than Munich, because at least there they didn’t try to paint Czechoslovakia as the aggressor, but here they try to accuse the victim of aggression – it is extremely dangerous.’
Ukrainian troops train ahead of deployment at an undisclosed location in the Donetsk region, on January 22, 2025
US President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky meet in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, February 28
Firefighters work to put out a fire on the fifth floor of a residential building following a Russian Shahed drone attack on Kharkiv, Ukraine on March 2
Poland also suggested cutting aid would amount to helping Putin in the war and at the negotiating table.
‘A sovereign, pro-western Ukraine which can defend itself, means a stronger and safer Poland,’ Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote on X.
‘In the political turmoil and growing chaos, this is what counts most. Whoever questions this obvious truth contributes to Putin’s triumph. Understand?’
A spokesperson for the British government said: ‘We remain absolutely committed to securing a lasting peace in Ukraine and are engaging with key allies in support of this effort. It is the right thing to do, and is in our interest to do so.’
Tory MP Graham Stuart, a former Foreign Office minister, wrote on X that ‘We have to consider the possibility that President Trump is a Russian asset.
‘If so, Trump’s acquisition is the crowning achievement of Putin’s FSB career – and Europe is on its own.’
The aid decision was also met with anger in the United States.
Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a top democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said: ‘By freezing military aid to Ukraine, President Trump has kicked the door wide open for Putin to escalate his violent aggression against innocent Ukrainians.
‘The repercussions will undoubtedly be devastating.’
Ukrainian soldiers of the 93rd Brigade attend the combat drills outside of the Pokrovsk, Ukraine on February 13, 2025
Paramedics pick up the bodies of two civilians killed after a Russian artillery attack on Kostiantynivka, Ukraine, on February 20, 2025
A M142 HIMARS launches a rocket on Russian position on December 29, 2023 in Ukraine
An American official familiar with the matter told CNN that the halt on aid might take several days or weeks to be felt.
They said that the effect would be severe, even if other nations try to fill the void.
‘There is a capability gap that Europe cannot fill alone,’ the official said.
Mark Cancian, a senior adviser with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told CNN that it would likely be felt within two to four months with a ‘crippling’ impact.
Trump appears to have made the move in an effort to bend the will of Ukraine to sign a critical minerals deal; his vice president, JD Vance, acknowledged in an interview with Fox News aired on Monday that ‘20,000 troops from some random country’ would not be enough to keep the peace in the event of a ceasefire.
Vance said giving Americans ‘economic upside in the future of Ukraine’ was a ‘way better security guarantee’ for Ukraine. The U.S. hopes to push Kyiv into signing a deal allowing America to extract wealth from Ukraine’s natural resources, which they argue would buy American investment in the country’s long-term security.
Zelensky argues that Putin cannot be trusted to not invade again, and cited 25 times Russia has broken ceasefires since 2014. Ukraine had already been chosen for significant American investment before Putin annexed Crimea in 2014.
Ukrainian servicemen of the 3rd Tank Brigade of the Ukrainian Ground Forces ride atop a T-72 tank at an undisclosed location in Kharkiv region on February 10, 2025
Tracers and explosions are seen in the night sky as Ukrainian servicemen fire at the drone during a Russian drone strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine February 23
British soldiers practice an assault on February 17, 2025 in Smardan, Romania
In a post on X yesterday, Zelensky explained his position:
‘The basic scenario is to maintain positions and create conditions for proper diplomacy to achieve the swiftest possible end to this war with a just peace. We need peace, true and honest peace – not endless war. And security guarantees are essential.
‘The absence of security guarantees for Ukraine 11 years ago allowed Russia to start with the occupation of Crimea and the war in Donbas. Later, the absence of security guarantees allows Russia to launch a full-scale invasion, and now, due to the lack of clear security guarantees, Russia continues to fuel this war. The world sees this, and the world acknowledges it.
‘Today, we continued our work with European partners on a special diplomatic and security architecture that can bring us closer to peace.’
Malcolm Chalmers, Deputy Director General of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London, warned that the ‘nightmare situation’ to follow would be if the U.S. presents Ukraine with a deal that ‘accepts most of Russia’s demands’ and then tells Ukraine and Europe to ‘take it or leave it’.
‘The European offer of ‘boots on the ground’ after a deal has helped reassure Ukraine. But the debate has now moved on. And what will count most of all is how far the UK and Europe are prepared to help Ukraine in defiance of the US,’ he said.
In order to make up for the shortfall, Europe ‘would probably need to double annual artillery shell production to compensate’.
‘It could dig deeper into its own reserves of other weapons. The problem is that while Europe has donated more in value terms, it also ends up providing many different weapons and vehicle types, which means the Ukrainian force is operating an unwieldy variety of equipment, making training more complicated’.
Chalmers concluded by saying that withholding aid was not ‘neutrality’ but ‘enabling Russian aggression’.
