The suspension, which could cost lives by hurting Ukraine's ability to defend itself against Russian missile strikes, followed a halt this week to U.S. military aid to Kyiv.
This is an audio transcript of the Rachman Review podcast episode: ‘Ukraine weathers new geopolitical climate’ Gideon Rachman Hello and welcome to the Rachman Review. I’m Gideon Rachman, chief foreign affairs commentator of the Financial Times.
A senior Ukrainian intelligence official said that Ukraine will probably run out of the last American military supplies in “two or three months”. “After that, it will be very difficult for us,” the official told the Financial Times.
Ukraine and the U.S. have outlined an agreement in which they would jointly fund Ukraine’s future security and reconstruction using an investment fund powered by the country’s rare earth minerals, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday.
This is an audio transcript of the FT News Briefing podcast episode: ‘Europe takes the lead on Ukraine peace deal’ Kasia Broussalian Good morning from the Financial Times. Today is Monday, March 3rd and this is your FT News Briefing.
Pledges of support: Five days after Zelenskyy was ejected from the White House following a clash that led to the US suspending military aid and intelligence support to Kyiv, he was promised “enduring” support by all but one of the bloc’s leaders.
Europe is rushing to provide Ukraine with alternatives to Elon Musk’s Starlink broadband satellite network, after the US withdrew military aid and intelligence sharing from the country this week.
Andriy Yermak, Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, is leading the talks on the Ukrainian side. He said on Monday that he had spoken to Republican congressman Brian Fitzpatrick about finding a “path toward a just peace” and that signing the minerals deal was “crucial for both our countries”.
But Trump has given no indication he is prepared to offer assistance to ensure any agreement holds. European promises to re-arm — the president has been telling the continent to stop freeriding on US guarantees for the best part of a decade — may have come too late.
“The minerals agreement is only part of the picture. We have heard multiple times from the US administration that it’s part of a bigger picture,” Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister and justice minister who has led the negotiations, told the Financial Times on Tuesday.
Let’s be clear, the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine is horrible. For 11 years, I have documented the war’s cost. With the full-scale invasion three years ago, my organisation established a network of human rights defenders to record mass atrocities — from the dead on the streets in Bucha to the mass graves in Izium.