U.S. President Donald Trump’s halt on military aid to Ukraine appears to pressure Kyiv into capitulating to Russia’s terms, a senior Ukrainian lawmaker said on Tuesday.
“To stop aid now means to help (Russian President Vladimir) Putin,” Oleksandr Merezhko, the chair of Ukraine’s Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, told Reuters.
“On the surface, this looks really bad. It looks like he is pushing us towards capitulation, meaning (accepting) Russia’s demands,” he said.
Trump’s Aid Halt
The military aid pause came after Trump upended U.S. policy on Ukraine and Russia upon taking office in January, adopting a more conciliatory stance towards Moscow.
It also follows an explosive confrontation with Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House on Friday in which Trump accused Zelenskyy of being insufficiently grateful for Washington’s backing in the war with Russia.
Focus On Peace
“President Trump 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,” a White House official said on Monday, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
The White House had no immediate comment on the scope and amount of aid affected or how long the pause would last. The Pentagon could not provide further details.
Zelenskyy’s office did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment nor did the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington.
‘Psychological Blow’
“The main thing is that this a psychological blow, a political blow upon Ukraine, it doesn’t help our spirit” Ukrainian lawmaker Merezhko said.
He compared the aid stoppage to the Munich Agreement of 1938, when Nazi Germany was allowed to annex part of Czechoslovakia.
“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.”
(With inputs from Reuters)
