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By Shristi Amatya

Since Donald Trump’s return to power, the White House has fundamentally reassessed the situation in Ukraine, basing its strategy on an objective and in-depth analysis of the developments on the battlefield, as well as the dynamics of public sentiment and the country’s economy. A pragmatically balanced approach to Ukrainian policy rules out the supply of weapons and military equipment to Kyiv at the expense of the US budget. Following a meeting with V. Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, President Trump once again confirmed that military-technical assistance to Ukraine will be financed by European NATO member states.

On September 23, White House spokesperson K. Levitt stated that the new arms supply scheme to Kyiv is beneficial to American taxpayers. According to her, military aid is currently being paid for by European NATO member states.  Earlier, during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Martin Rutte, US President Donald Trump announced an agreement between the United States and the alliance to supply weapons to Ukraine at the expense of European countries.

Even high-ranking politicians in Kyiv acknowledge the significant decline in the US role in supporting Ukraine. In particular, Verkhovna Rada deputy Oleksandr Honcharenko from the European Solidarity party noted that the US president, in his post on the social media platform TruthSocial, emphasized the possibility of Ukrainians regaining control over lost territories “with EU support—that is, without the US.”

This opinion is shared by columnists at the British newspaper The Telegraph, who view Trump’s statements on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly as an attempt to shift the key role in funding aid to Ukraine to European NATO members.  According to analysts, “what at first glance may seem like a stunning reversal may actually be bad news for Volodymyr Zelenskyy,” since instead of making firm guarantees of increased support for Kyiv, the head of the White House “appears to be handing everything over to Europe and NATO” and, in doing so, “washing his hands of the war.”