Trump’s US election leaves Ukraine scrambling for EU military assistance

Donald Trump’s US statesmanlike predetermination triumph connected November 5 has formed a crisp spotlight connected what subject and financial assistance Ukraine could expect from nan European Union.

Trump past twelvemonth pressed United States lawmakers to hold a $61.4bn subject assistance package to Ukraine, and claimed he would extremity nan Ukraine warfare “in a day” if he won.

Ukraine was besides concerned that nan transportation of weapons promised nether nan management of President Joe Biden beryllium fulfilled earlier nan handover of powerfulness connected January 20.

Pentagon spokesperson Pat Ryder said nan US had delivered 83 percent of munitions, 67 percent of captious aerial defences, and 60 percent of firepower capabilities committed to Ukraine nether defence packages betwixt April and mid-October.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said connected Wednesday that he did not expect nan commencement of Trump’s presidency to alteration nan US position connected Ukraine.

(Al Jazeera)

But Trump has demanded that EU personnel states which are besides NATO members raise defence spending to 3 percent of gross home merchandise (GDP), and threatened to fto Russia do “whatever nan hellhole it wants” pinch them if they refuse, suggesting US backing for NATO, and perchance Ukraine, would beryllium conditional nether his presidency.

That has raised questions astir nan grade of European subject autonomy and governmental will to proceed supporting Ukraine pinch aliases without a supportive management successful Washington.

EU outer affairs main Josep Borrell told European Pravda that nan bloc would present a cardinal artillery shells by nan extremity of nan year. Those shells were promised successful outpouring 2023 for transportation past spring.

“We almost did it. We person already delivered much than 980 1000 shells, and very soon we will present 1 cardinal shells,” Borrell said.

Shells purchased from astir nan world nether a Czech inaugural will person provided different half cardinal artillery rounds by year’s end, he said.

In addition, Borrell said, EU accumulation capacity had now ramped up to a cardinal shells a year.

Rescuers activity astatine nan tract of an flat building deed by a Russian rocket onslaught successful Kryvyi Rih, successful nan Dnipropetrovsk region [Danylo Antoniuk/Reuters]

The EU has spent 122 cardinal euros ($129bn) supporting Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale penetration successful 2022.

Should US assistance travel to a halt, nan EU could manus complete to Ukraine $300bn successful Russian assets nether guidance successful nan EU, and calls accrued successful nan past week to do so.

The EU has truthful acold agreed to springiness Ukraine only nan profits from those assets, fearing retaliatory effects connected nan bloc’s currency.

Ukraine has received a first instalment of 400 cardinal euros ($425m). At a gathering of EU board of defence argumentation successful Brussels connected Tuesday, Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Serhiy Boyev asked nan EU to unreserved a 1.5 billion-euro ($1.6bn) tranche of profits from stiff Russian assets promised this year, for finance successful Ukraine’s defence business base.

(Al Jazeera)

There was besides renewed unit connected German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to break ranks pinch nan cautious US argumentation not to usage Western weapons to onslaught heavy wrong Russia, and proviso Ukraine pinch 500km-range (310-mile) Taurus missiles, which could onslaught Russian airfields.

“I deliberation it is right, unchanged, that I person made my publication to ensuring that location has been nary escalation. And I would for illustration to make it clear, that nan state that is doing nan astir successful Europe to guarantee that Ukraine is not near unsocial and is supported is besides a state that must guarantee that an escalation does not occur,” Scholz told nan Bundestag aliases little location of nan German parliament connected Wednesday.

Striking airfields would deprive Russia of its expertise to motorboat dense glide bombs, 1 of its astir effective weapons against Ukrainian beforehand lines.

A grim business connected nan beforehand lines

Vladyslav Voloshyn, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s confederate defences, connected Saturday said Russia was intensifying nan usage of glide bombs successful nan south.

“In October, nan Russians utilized astir 500 guided aerial bombs successful nan confederate direction, specifically connected Ukrainian positions and connected populated areas adjacent nan statement of combat,” he said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced connected Sunday greeting that Russia dropped 800 glide bombs crossed nan full beforehand successful nan erstwhile week – a complaint he first reported successful nan first week of October – which computes to much than 3,000 glide bombs a month.

In addition, Russia typically launches immoderate 1,600 kamikaze drones and 80 missiles into Ukraine each week, Zelenskyy has said.

Ukraine’s equipped forces said nan Russian strategy was besides continuing to explosive civilian areas successful Kharkiv pinch glide bombs to demoralise nan population. A Ukrainian counter-invasion successful nan Russian region of Kursk past August had produced a lull successful bombardment.

“In nan past fewer weeks, nan force has started utilizing guided aerial bombs again, said Volodymyr Degtyarev, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s National Guard. “Mostly successful nan city, connected civilian infrastructure, chiefly successful nan evening aliases astatine night, though location are besides daytime shellings.”

(Al Jazeera)

Ukraine’s defenders continued to beryllium nether aggravated unit passim nan beforehand successful nan past week, pinch nan Russian hammer falling hardest connected Kurakhove and Pokrovsk, front-line towns westbound of Donetsk city.

Ukraine’s General Staff reported 125 combat clashes connected Monday, astir successful nan guidance of Pokrovsk, pinch Kurakhove remaining a “difficult situation”.

Zelenskyy sent reinforcements to those 2 directions, but it appeared that by Tuesday Russian troops were advancing on Zaporizkyi Street successful northeast Kurakhove.

One of Ukraine’s top concerns has been Russia’s expertise to sorb losses of men and armour successful this war.

Colonel Vadym Mysnyk, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Siversk group of forces, told a telethon that Russian assaults typically started pinch armour, followed by waves of infantry astatine 10-15 infinitesimal intervals, a maneuver which led to precocious attrition rates for nan Russians.

Russian assaults person intelligibly been bloody, pinch Russian casualties past week astatine 9,800, according to Ukraine’s Ground Forces Commander Oleksandr Pavlyuk – confirming nan regular complaint of astir 1,400 casualties observed since June.

Yet reinforcements person kept coming, starring Ukraine to counter-invade Kursk successful bid to pin down Russian troops there, preventing them from joining nan beforehand against beleaguered defenders.

Zelenskyy said successful his evening reside that 50,000 Russian troops were being held astatine bay successful Kursk, noting “Our men are holding backmost a reasonably ample grouping of Russian troops – 50,000 of nan occupier’s service personnel, who, owed to nan Kursk operation, cannot beryllium deployed to different Russian violative directions connected our territory.”

The propaganda war

Donald Trump’s first US furniture picks were improbable to person inspired Ukrainian assurance successful nan continuity of US support.

On Wednesday, Trump nominated erstwhile US House Representative Tulsi Gabbard for nan position of head of National Intelligence.

“This warfare and suffering could person easy been avoided if Biden Admin/NATO had simply acknowledged Russia’s morganatic information concerns regarding Ukraine’s becoming a personnel of NATO, which would mean US/NATO forces correct connected Russia’s border,” Gabbard posted connected X erstwhile nan warfare began.

That echoed nan statement made by Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova connected Wednesday – that nan warfare could extremity nan infinitesimal Western support for Ukraine stopped.

(Al Jazeera)

Russian President Vladimir Putin past week repeated nan Russian position, portraying a warfare Russia started arsenic a Western inaugural to crush Russia.

“The West’s calls to inflict a strategical conclusion connected Russia, a state pinch nan largest arsenal of atomic weapons, show nan utmost adventurism of Western politicians,” he told nan Valdai Discussion Club connected November 7.

“The measurement of sanctions, punitive measures applied to our country, has nary balanced successful history. Our opponents assumed that they would woody Russia a crushing, knockout blow, from which it would simply not recover, and would cease to beryllium 1 of nan cardinal elements of world life.”

“Here comes Russian propaganda, which falsely claims that ‘by supporting Ukraine, you are continuing nan war’,” said Borrell successful his interview. “’If you emotion peace, you should extremity supporting Ukraine’.

“To antagonistic this propaganda, we must explicate to group that bid is not conscionable nan extremity of war. Peace done nan surrender of Ukraine, aliases a communicative that will lead to nan constitution of a puppet authorities successful Kyiv, arsenic successful Belarus – past we will get nan disintegration of Ukrainian nine and spot nan Russian service connected nan Polish border. This is against not only our values, but besides our interests.”

(Al Jazeera)