Come to think of it, US President Donald J. Trump never had any reasons to like Volodymyr Zelensky.
After all, both the Ukrainian leader and his grey eminence Andriy Yermak were connected to Dem’s first sham impeachment push.
As Trump was horrified watching Zelensky play ailing Joe Biden ‘like a fiddle’ for untold billions, he also had to watch the Kiev regime’s leader campaign for the Democrats on a visit to an ammunition factory.
By the time the ‘modestly successful comedian’ set himself on metaphorical fire in the Oval Office, the relationship had soured.
Trump called him a ‘dictator without elections’, and blamed him for involving the US in an unwinnable war.
So, as Zelensky backtracks on the agreed deals and badmouths his administration in the press, Trump warned that he was going to have ‘big, big problems’.
And the shift in priorities was immediately visible, as Pete Hegseth will reportedly not attend the ‘Ramstein Group’ gathering of 50 countries that coordinate military support for Ukraine.
This marks the first time that the ‘Ukraine Defense Contact Group’ will lack the presence of the American secretary of defense.
Defense News reported:
“The group will meet April 11 in Brussels and will be chaired by Germany and Britain. Hegseth attended the last meeting in February, though he became the first U.S. defense secretary in the coalition’s 26 meetings not to lead it.
Hegseth won’t join in person and isn’t expected to join virtually either, according to a U.S. official, who like others was granted anonymity to discuss the planning. In fact, the Pentagon is unlikely to send any senior representatives, which typically join the secretary on such trips.”
It’s unclear so far if and how US officials will participate in the support forums for Ukraine.
“For Europeans, the secretary’s absence is the latest sign of the Trump administration’s lower-priority approach to arming Ukraine – a point Hegseth made clear at the last meeting in February.”
In the last meeting, Hegseth blasted the Europeans for simply relying on Americans to defend their continent. He also ruled out the possibility of NATO membership for Ukraine.
If the Ukrainians lack key U.S. intelligence and military supplies, the chance of a catastrophic defeat increases markedly.
“The Pentagon has $3.85 billion left in authority to send Ukraine military equipment, but no money left to replace it. Leaders in Congress have said they have no plans to pass more.”
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