Five senior Western and Ukrainian officials and military officers told Time that U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to block military intelligence from reaching Ukraine helped push the Russian army along a critical part of the front, leading to the deaths of many Ukrainian defenders.
Points of attention
- The impact of Trump's decision has been severe on the Ukrainian Defense Forces in Russian Kursk, hindering their efforts to maintain captured territory and impacting future peace talks.
- President Zelensky aims to leverage the region of Kursk for potential peace negotiations with Russia, exchanging it for Ukrainian lands occupied by the Russians.
Trump makes a decision in favor of Russia
"There are hundreds of dead Ukrainians because of this pause," said one of the Ukrainian officers, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
According to another insider, the biggest problem right now is the morale of the soldiers.
The US president's move has led to Ukrainian soldiers being forced to fight without some of the best weapons systems.
All of this happened not because of Russian attacks, but because of the US attitude, as Donald Trump actually favored Russia on the front lines.
What is important to understand is that this has had the most severe impact on the Ukrainian Defense Forces in Russian Kursk, where the Armed Forces are trying to hold onto the strip of territory they captured during the offensive last August.
President Zelensky sees the region as a critical source of leverage in any future peace talks with the Russians. His goal is to exchange parts of Kursk for Ukrainian lands occupied by Russia.
