Trump halts military aid to Ukraine, as reported byKevin Liptak, Samantha Waldenberg and Oren Liebermann . "President Donald Trump is ordering a pause on shipments of US military aid to Ukraine after his heated Oval Office argument with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last week, a White House official told CNN Monday. (CNN: 3 March 2025) (my emphasis)
Trump halts 'intelligence' aid to Ukraine. As the BBC reported, "US officials have confirmed that President Trump has suspended intelligence sharing with Ukraine on top of the pause in military assistance
"We have taken a step back, and are pausing and reviewing all aspects of this relationship," National Security Adviser Mike Waltz says" (BBC News: 5 March 2025) (my emphasis)
Putin then rains bombs on Ukraine,
Trump sudddenly follows on by ".. [issueing] a surprising threat to Moscow on Friday, saying “based on the fact that Russia is absolutely ‘pounding’ Ukraine,” he is considering placing large-scale banking sanctions and tariffs on Russia until it agrees to a ceasefire and final peace settlement."(Daria Tarasova-Markina and Christian Edwards: CNN on MSN: 8 March 2025) (my emphasis)
Trump then, once again, shifts the blame onto Zelensky for Putin's continuing near 'manic' bombing of Ukraine by stating that, "We're doing very well with Russia.... I think he's [Putin] doing what anybody else would do [i.e. raining bombs on Ukraine]. I think he wants to get it stopped and settled, and he's hitting them harder than he's been hitting them." (Ian Aikman and Tom Bateman: BBC News: 8 March 2025) (my emphasis)
Trump continues, "He added that he believes Putin wants to end the war but he cannot say the same of Ukraine.
"I want to know they [Ukraine] want to settle and I don't know they want to settle," Trump said, when asked why he had cut off aid to Kyiv." (ibid Ian Aikman and Tom Bateman)
Putin's 'manic' bombing of Ukraine's civilians, and Trump's shifting of the blame of Putin's bombings onto Zelensky (cf. he's [Putin] doing what anybody else would do [i.e. raining bombs on Ukraine]. I think he wants to get it stopped and settled, and he's hitting them harder than he's been hitting them." (ibid Ian Aikman and Tom Bateman))
Trump using Putin's bombings of Ukraine's civilians to repeat his 'cracked record' mantra of simply wanting 'peace'. As Ian Aikman and Tom Bateman report, Trump stated that "The US is "doing very well with Russia", and "it may be easier dealing with" Moscow than Kyiv, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Friday." ( BBC News: 8 March 2025) (my emphasis)
one could almost conclude that Trump's pronouncements has the fingerprints of Putin all over it.
UPDATE : 8 March 2025: 14:59 GMT
That Trump is, "... considering placing large-scale banking sanctions and tariffs" is, in the words of John Bolton (left),
"Because I think he [Trump] knew that the so-called 'threat' about placing large scale banking sanctions and tarrifs on Russia] this morning wastotally hollow, as did Vladimir Putin.. He did it simply to show some kind of balance given the things he had said about Zelensky and the Ukrainians .... " (CNN : 7 March 2025: YouTube)
"President Donald Trump is ordering a pause on shipments of US military aid to Ukraine after his heated Oval Office argument with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last week, a White House official told CNN Monday. (CNN: 3 March 2025) (my emphasis)
"It will remain in place until Trump determines Zelensky has made a commitment to seeking peace talks, one official said, essentially forcing Ukraine to a negotiating table by threatening further losses on the battlefield." (Ibid Kevin Liptak, Samantha Waldenberg and Oren Liebermann)
And in his report to Congress on 4 March, Trump revealed a letter sent to him by Zelensky, which massages Trump's ego by referring to his "strong" leadership, and stating that, "Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possibe, to bring lasting preace closer"(BBC: 5 March 2025)
At the same time, and before Congress, Trump said that,
"Simultaneously, we've had serious discussions with Russia, and I've received "strong" signals that they are ready for 'peace'." (ibid BBC)
What Trump let slip is that he possibly spoke to Putin when he received the letter from Zelensky and, it may be assumed, read him the contents thereof.
Which rather raises an important, yet "unspoken", possible relationship between Putin and Trump.
"... the American public has no idea if Russian President Vladimir Putin has “something” on Trump—in other words, some compromising information about the would-be 47th president’s past, or what the Russians call kompromat." (Foreign Policy:30 October 2024) (my emphasis)
In 2020, during Trump's first presidency, Max Boot set out 18 reasons why Trump could be a Russian asset. (cf. Video below)
And let us not forget the Steele Dossier of 2016, which emerged duringTrump's first presidential race, and which detailed some of Trump's actvities in Russia, as well as his compromising relationship with the Kremlin i.e. Putin.
"A former aide during Donald Trump's first term in office has given a scathing assessment of his former boss's relationship with Vladimir Putin - claiming he is being used a "puppet".
Trump’s former aide, Anthony 'The Mooch' Scaramucci (left), claims the firebrand Republican leader is the exact president that the Russian dictator wants in the White House." (The Mirror: 20 February 2025) (my emphasis)
As Rachel Maddow(right), of MSNBC, also pointed out from Trump's recent meeting with Zelensky,
Trump let slip that he spoke with Putin but a few days ago. No-one knew about this, neither do they know exactly how frequently Trump and Putin have their tête-à-tête's without ANYONE knowing about it and
a Russian state media reporter from Tass gained entry into the Oval Office for the Trump-Zelesky sit down, even as AP (Associated Press) and Reuters were barred from this high-level meeting. (MSNBC: March 2025) (my emphasis)
These concerns about the Trump/Putin relationship rather puts into perspective why Trump is so willing to :-
concede to Putin's "Novorossiya" demands about what Putin wants from any so-called 'peace' deal with Ukraine,
Trump's demand that the US be given Ukraine's mineral wealth,
that Ukraine effectively concede to Putin's demand of 'total capitulation to Moscow,
black-mailing Ukraine by the witholding of US armaments aiding Ukraine in its defence of its territory against Putin's invasion and,
as Alexander Smith reports, "President Donald Trump’s decision to pause American military aid to Ukraine is handing Russia’s Vladimir Putin the upper hand on the battlefield and in geopolitical negotiations, former officials and experts warned Tuesday." (NBC News on MSN: 4 March 2025) (my emphasis)
These are some of the facts that are focussing the minds of EU members and the UK in continuing their unwavering support of Ukraine.
It is therefore no wonder that, as reported by James Titcomb(left),
"Satellites backed by the British taxpayer could be used to replace Elon Musk’s Starlink in Ukraine as the United States withdraws its military support for the country.
OneWeb, the London-based subsidiary of French satellite company Eutelsat, said it was ready to “swiftly deploy” equipment to Ukraine." (The Telegraph: 4 March 2025) (my emphasis)
Furthermore, though Trump may be 'patting himself on the back' with all those tarrifs he's imposing upon many countries around the world, he is reaping the 'whirlwind of international reaction' that will soon be felt by the people of the US.
As I wrote in my previous blog entry (1 March 2025),
"Putin is ecstatic that Trump is raising an IRON CURTAIN between the US and Europe, and between the US and Ukraine."
But Putin knows that the 'awakening' giant of the EU and Britain will not be held down, and that any of his 'nuclear' threats against Europe will be met with the 'nuclear' forces of Britain and France.
So whilst Putin's survival is hanging on by a thread, and Trump, Putin's possible asset, struts before his admirers in the US, the 'backroom' boys of the EU and Great Britain are silently preparing for the defence of Ukraine.
As to be expected, Trump has now prevented the Ukraine army from using the US Himar missiles, for which Trump is exacting the price of obtaining and, possibly, controlling, Ukraine's mineral resources, by switching off US intelligence sharing with Ukraine.
The very sharing of intelligence information between the army of Ukraine and the army of the US, which served to protect Ukraine's civilians from Putin's 'flying' bombs, has been stopped.
"US officials have confirmed that President Trump has suspended intelligence sharing with Ukraine on top of the pause in military assistance
"We have taken a step back, and are pausing and reviewing all aspects of this relationship," National Security Adviser Mike Waltz says" (BBC News: 5 March 2025) (my emphasis)
This action of Trump gives the TOTAL LIE to his 'cracked record' repetition of wanting 'peace' since Putin can now, with impunity, bomb Ukrainian children, mothers, and civilians.
Trump may as well scream at the top of his lungs, and from the rooftops of the New York skyline, "Putin ... Kill the Ukrainians!!"
We now await that "Privileged Apartheid Reared South African", 'PARSA Musk', switching off his Starlink being used by Ukraine's soldiers.
Rachel Maddow(right), of MSNBC, critically learned two more details from the meeting viz.
that Trump let slip that he spoke with Putin but a few days ago. No-one knew about this, neither do they know exactly how frequently Trump and Putin have their tête-à-tête's without ANYONE knowing about it.
a Russian state media reporter from Tass gained entry into the Oval Office for the Trump-Zelesky sit down, even as AP (Associated Press) and Reuters were barred from this high-level meeting. (MSNBC: March 2025) (my emphasis)
"The Kiel Institute is a German-based think tank tracking support going into Ukraine. It calculated that the United States spent $119.7bn (£94.3bn) on aid between January 2022 and December 2024 … President Trump has claimed: "We've spent more than $300bn and Europe has spent about $100bn - that's a big difference"
Short answer: Figures suggest Europe has spent more when all aid is included and, as above, we can't find any evidence for the $300bn figure." (BBC News: 27 February 2025) (my emphasis)
In his interview with Trump, Macron gently corrects Trump on the aid the EU gave to Ukraine.
One is somewhat reminded of that saying of Goebbels that,
"If you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it, and you will even come to believe it yourself." ~ Joseph Goebbels " (AZ Quotes)
By so often repeating the lie about giving Ukraine $350 billion, Trump has come to believe that lie himself.
It is without a doubt that the political world, and the people of the world, have now heard how Trump and his sidekick Vance are raising an IRON CURTAIN between the US and Europe.
Even more disconcerting is Trump practically shouting at Zelensky,
"You're gambling with World War Three ...You're gambling with World War Three" (ibid BBC News: 28 February 2025)
It would seem that all that Trump really wants is the mineral wealth of Ukraine, and has absolutely no concern about the facts that :-
Putin illegally invaded and annexed Ukraine's Crimea in 2014,
Putin illegally invaded the Donbas of Ukraine in 2014, and
Putin illegally invaded Ukraine in 2022 and set off a war that is still ongoing.
Ending the meeting, Trump angrily said to Zelensky,
"But you're either going to make a deal [to give us Ukraine's mineral wealth] or we're out " (ibid BBC News: 28 February 2025)
As Alexander
Motyl(left) pointed out in 2014, when Putin first invaded and illegally annexed Crimea,
"Now six days ago, (25th July 2014) Alexander J. Motylposed the following question: " Is Putin evil? His actions certainly are, if by evil we understand
behavior that willfully, consciously and purposely destroys human life.
Perhaps we can call his actions undeniably evil and Putin himself "evil
enough." Evil enough for what? Evil enough for condemnation by people of
good will."(CNN: 25 July 2014) (my emphasis)
As I wrote in my last blog entry (24 February 2025 ), "Storm clouds are gathering."
The first 'thunderclap' has sounded.
Putin is ecstatic that Trump is raising an IRON CURTAIN between the US and Europe, and between the US and Ukraine
