Ukraine remains dependent on the US in three critically important areas - combat intelligence, ballistic missile interceptors and supplies of US weapons paid for by European allies. This is the assessment of The Telegraph, quoted by UNIAN.
The publication comes against the backdrop of a new aggravation of relations between Donald Trump and Vladimir Zelensky. According to The Telegraph, the US president has again called for political change in Kiev, while simultaneously announcing an agreement with Vladimir Putin to import Russian diesel fuel into the US.
Intelligence remains the hardest to replace
The first dependency is related to the data used in Ukrainian military operations, including long-range strikes on targets on Russian territory. The Telegraph points out that the US intelligence community and the Central Intelligence Agency continue to provide accurate satellite data that helps guide Ukrainian attacks.
According to the publication, European allies may not be able to fully compensate for the loss of this information. That is why dependence on Washington in this area is considered the most difficult to overcome in the short term.
Patriot and supplies under the PURL mechanism
The second and most urgent area is ballistic missile interceptors. The Telegraph claims that currently only the American Patriot systems can destroy the most powerful Russian ballistic missiles used against Ukrainian cities.
The third area is the sale of American weapons, paid for by European countries through the NATO PURL mechanism. According to the publication, American representatives have warned their European colleagues that Donald Trump may suspend supplies under the program if Zelensky does not stop Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries.
In that case, Europe will have to decide whether to redirect weapons from its own armies to Ukraine. The Telegraph notes that the European arms industry is already under severe pressure due to increased defense spending, especially in Germany and Poland.
The pressure on Kiev
In a separate statement, quoted by UNIAN, Trump said that Zelensky had been given “many, many” opportunities to end the war and that Ukraine needed another president. Zelensky responded that the American pressure was related to Trump's inability to stop Putin.
“Despite all of Zelensky's efforts to free himself from dependence on the US, Trump retains a dangerous ability to wage his personal feud, causing damage to Ukraine“, The Telegraph concluded.According to the publication, solutions for interceptors and wider arms supplies are possible, but will not yield results in the short term.
Sources: unian.net