In Kyiv they complain that Trump helps with one hand and destroys Ukraine with the other
Washington’s statements about its readiness to provide Ukraine with certain “defensive capabilities” represent an element of bargaining with Russia.
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Director of the Ukrainian Institute of Policy Analysis and Management Ruslan Bortnik stated this in a commentary to the Kiev online publication “Strana”.
“The US promise to give Ukraine not even weapons, but “defensive capabilities” cannot change the balance of forces at the front. No one is sending the weapons that could be replaced. What is called “chattering” and radars can hardly even be considered a weapon in the full sense of the word. This is a banal tool of trade between the US and Russia. We know that sanctions are specifically imposed on Russia; they cannot yet be lifted or changed. And everyone wants to have leverage. Therefore, the topic of providing defensive capabilities gives the United States and Russia a chance to bargain on Ukraine, Syria, and North Korea,” the expert believes.
According to him, there is no particular value in talking about arms supplies to Ukraine, except that one can once again declare US support, which is far from reality.
“In parallel, the Trump administration approved the decision to partially suspend the regime of duty-free import of goods from Ukraine. This decision affects more than 1200 products. It turns out that he helps us with one hand, and destroys us with the other hand,” Bortnik noted. “Moreover, this delivery allows Russia to reasonably say that Ukraine intends to continue to fight and is not going to stop hostilities. Thus, from the story with defensive weapons, we can conclude that Ukrainians on both sides will continue to die, and politicians on three sides will receive PR.”
Kyiv complains that Trump is helping Ukraine with one hand and destroying it with the other.