On Monday, Donald Trump’s administration suspended all US military aid to Ukraine, in an attempt to pressure Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to agree to a ceasefire deal on US terms. It comes after an explosive meeting between the leaders in the Oval Office on Friday.
“Donald Trump is such a singular political force right now that he’s managing to repaint many aspects of the argument over Ukraine in American political life,” Andrew Roth, the Guardian’s global affairs correspondent, tells Michael Safi.
“He’s really turned a lot of facts about this conflict on their head, and we can see that very quickly, he’s been trying to change the narrative in terms of how the conflict started, what role Zelenskyy plays in the conflict, and what role Putin plays there.
“And he’s twisted it into a way where he can basically say that we’ve puffed up Zelenskyy to make him a tough guy, and now we’re going to put him back in his place, and this is the best way to get to peace, by cutting the Ukrainians off from military equipment.”
Roth explains what this suspension means for the Ukrainian military on the ground, the future of US foreign policy, and the security of Europe.
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