---
title: America Has Turned on Ukraine. Here’s Why.
description: "America Turns on Ukraine: What the Heck is Going On? (Author: Morris M.) To call it Ukraine’s week from hell is - if anything - an understatement. Not since the first Russian missiles slammed into Kyiv in late-February of 2022 has the nation’s future seemed darker.\n\n## Key Takeaways\n- Ukraine’s catastrophic week began with a widely reported Oval Office blowup on February 28th, followed by the suspension of US military aid, the severing of the intelligence pipeline, and reports of Trump operatives secretly meeting Ukrainian opposition figures to explore removing Zelensky.\n- Washington has gone from leading condemnation of Russia’s invasion to voting alongside North Korea and Belarus against UN resolutions condemning Russian aggression, a total reversal from its pre-January 20th stance.\n- The United States is by far Ukraine’s largest lethal-aid donor, providing the equivalent of 64.1 billion euros compared to second-place Germany’s 12.6 billion, making any American cutoff disproportionately damaging.\n- A draft minerals agreement Trump pushed Kyiv to sign would have required Ukraine to hand over a share of its GDP exceeding the reparations imposed on Germany after World War One, according to the Telegraph.\n- China is seeking to exploit the US-Europe rift, with Beijing’s EU envoy openly criticizing Washington’s \"brazen and domineering\" treatment of its European allies and analysts describing the dynamic as China trying to peel Europe away from Washington.\n\n## Key Developments\n\nIt began on Friday, 28th February with an Oval Office blowup that has already become infamous. It then continued over days of fallout and misery, each news cycle bringing more reasons to despair than before. The suspension of military aid. The switching off of the US intelligence pipeline. The bombshell story that Trump operatives were clandestinely meeting with Ukrainian opposition politicians, trying to plot a way to remove Zelensky from power. By the time the following Friday rolled around - March 7th - the list of disasters befalling Kyiv was starting to look like Vladimir Putin’s Christmas wish list, complete with moves to ease sanctions on Russia. While his popularity had been falling prior to the blowup in the Oval Office, a recent survey by polling company Survation put Zelensky’s support at 44 percent, a full twenty points ahead of his nearest rival. Unfortunately, there was more to Kyiv’s bad week than just the removal of aid and JD Vance manufacturing a blow-up in the Oval Office.\n\n## Strategic Implications\n\nYet it wasn’t Moscow driving these developments. Nor was it events on the battlefield, where Ukraine’s armed forces are beginning to reverse months of Russian gains around Toretsk and Pokrovsk. No. The driving force of Ukraine’s week from hell was a former ally. An ally that now seems to have turned on Kyiv. An ally known as the United States. Beijing’s EU envoy Lu Shaye has recently begun making pro-Europe noises, telling the South China Morning Post (quote): “When you look at how the Trump administration has implemented a brazen and domineering policy towards Europe, treating its allies in this way, honestly, from a European perspective, it’s quite appalling.” As the Deputy Head of Eastern Europe & Eurasia Division at the SWP Berlin research institute drily noted on X: “Reverse-reverse Nixon is when China peels Europe away from Washington as a result of US-Russian rapprochement.” The broader idea, though - that American focus on Ukraine is an unwanted distraction from China - is one we should take seriously.\n\n## Risk and Uncertainty\n\nFor most of us watching this war, the whiplash between America’s treatment of Ukraine prior to January 20th and afterwards has been total. From leading the condemnation of Putin’s colonial war, Washington has switched to voting against UN resolutions condemning Russia’s aggression - a stance that saw the US position itself alongside longtime enemies such as North Korea and Belarus. And the big question hanging over it all is: why? Why is Washington suddenly treating Ukraine not just as somebody else’s problem… but as an enemy? As the Telegraph pointed out, regarding one of the draft texts of the minerals agreement Trump tried to push Kyiv into signing (quote): “If this draft were accepted, Trump’s demands would amount to a higher share of Ukrainian GDP than reparations imposed on Germany at the Versailles Treaty (that ended World War One).” That question of “why” is one we’re going to take seriously in this video. To see if there isn’t a good faith or realpolitik answer that could explain the reversal.\n\n## Outlook\n\nBut first, let’s just quickly recap the full extent of the calamity now befalling Ukraine, and how each of Washington’s recent moves badly undercuts the country’s war effort. Starting with the cutoff of military aid. In the three years since the Kremlin launched its unprovoked invasion, American military support for Kyiv has been critical. As the Kiel Institute’s support tracker shows, the US is by far the largest single donor of lethal aid - handing over the equivalent of 64.1 billion euros. Second place Germany, by contrast, has donated a mere 12.6 billion. This is the crux of the Trumpian complaints that Europe should do more to support Kyiv, instead of leaving America to carry the can. As the magazine writes: “In 2021, the last full year before the full-blown invasion of Ukraine, the United States absorbed a mere 3.6 percent of Russia’s exports and supplied just 5.9 percent of its imports.\n\n## Related Coverage\n- [The UAE is in MASSIVE Trouble.](https://warfronts.pub/conflicts/the-uae-is-in-massive-trouble)\n- [This Is Ukraine’s Moment of Truth.](https://warfronts.pub/conflicts/this-is-ukraines-moment-of-truth)\n- [This Is Ukraine’s Moment of Truth.](https://warfronts.pub/conflicts/this-is-ukraines-moment-of-truth-1bmuupct)\n- [Donald Trump Has Cut Off Venezuelan Oil](https://warfronts.pub/conflicts/donald-trump-has-cut-off-venezuelan-oil)\n- [Ukraine's Moment of Truth: Inside the November 2025 Peace Proposal Designed to Fail](https://warfronts-prod.fulcrum-labs.workers.dev/geopolitics/ukraine-moment-of-truth-peace-proposal-designed-to-fail)\n\n## Frequently Asked Questions\n\n### What sequence of events made up Ukraine’s week from hell?\n\nThe crisis began with a widely reported Oval Office blowup on Friday, February 28th, followed by the suspension of US military aid, the switching off of the American intelligence pipeline, and reports that Trump operatives were secretly meeting with Ukrainian opposition politicians to explore removing Zelensky from power. By March 7th, Washington was also moving to ease sanctions on Russia.\n\n### How significant is US military support to Ukraine compared to other donors?\n\nAccording to the Kiel Institute’s support tracker, the United States is by far the largest single donor of lethal aid to Ukraine, having provided the equivalent of 64.1 billion euros. Second-place Germany has donated a mere 12.6 billion euros by comparison, which underpins Washington’s complaints that Europe should do more.\n\n### What did a draft minerals agreement reveal about Trump’s demands on Ukraine?\n\nAs the Telegraph reported, one draft of the minerals agreement Trump pushed Kyiv to sign would have given the United States a share of Ukrainian GDP that exceeded the reparations imposed on Germany after the First World War at Versailles, which critics described as extraordinary given the circumstances of the war.\n\n### How has Washington’s stance at the United Nations shifted since January 20th?\n\nThe US switched from leading international condemnation of Russia’s invasion to voting against UN resolutions condemning Russian aggression, a position that placed Washington alongside longtime adversaries such as North Korea and Belarus, representing a total reversal of prior American policy.\n\n### How is China seeking to exploit the rift between the United States and Europe?\n\nBeijing’s EU envoy Lu Shaye began making pro-Europe statements, telling the South China Morning Post that the Trump administration’s treatment of its European allies was “quite appalling” from a European perspective. Analysts described the dynamic as a “Reverse-reverse Nixon,” with China attempting to peel Europe away from Washington as a result of growing US-Russia rapprochement.\n\n## Sources\n1. \n2. \n3. \n4. \n5. \n6. \n7. \n8. \n9. \n\n[1]: https://www.politico.eu/article/donald-trump-allies-secret-talks-volodymyr-zelenskyy-opposition-ukraine-elections-yulia-tymoshenko-petro-poroshenko/\n[2]: https://kyivindependent.com/us-destroying-worl-order-zaluzhnyi-says/\n[3]: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-plans-revoke-legal-status-ukrainians-who-fled-us-sources-say-2025-03-06/\n[4]: https://www.ft.com/content/c58fccea-00c4-4fad-bc0a-0185b7415579\n[5]: https://x.com/KofmanMichael/status/1896911815352995974\n[6]: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/04/us-military-aid-ukraine-pause-trump-zelenskyy-updates\n[7]: https://www.reuters.com/world/white-house-seeks-plan-possible-russia-sanctions-relief-sources-say-2025-03-03/\n[8]: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/04/opinion/trump-zelensky-ukraine.html\n[9]: https://apnews.com/article/cyber-command-russia-putin-trump-hegseth-c46ef1396e3980071cab81c27e0c0236\n\n"
url: https://warfronts.pub/article/america-has-turned-on-ukraine-heres-why.md
canonical: https://warfronts.pub/article/america-has-turned-on-ukraine-heres-why
datePublished: 2026-02-25
dateModified: 2026-02-25
author:
- name: Simon Whistler
url: https://warfronts.pub/author/simon-whistler
publisher: Warfronts
image: "https://media.warfronts.pub/cdn-cgi/image/width=1600,height=900,fit=cover,quality=80,format=auto/articles/fGdi8g3tSas/hero.jpg"
type: NewsArticle
contentHash: 648b57de9f7be38b3efceda600e1bfb1cc22b50d56d70f7630cd1f7aa04d5de4
tokens: 2531
summaryUrl: https://warfronts.pub/article/america-has-turned-on-ukraine-heres-why.md.summary.md
---
America Turns on Ukraine: What the Heck is Going On? (Author: Morris M.) To call it Ukraine’s week from hell is - if anything - an understatement. Not since the first Russian missiles slammed into Kyiv in late-February of 2022 has the nation’s future seemed darker.
## Key Takeaways
- Ukraine’s catastrophic week began with a widely reported Oval Office blowup on February 28th, followed by the suspension of US military aid, the severing of the intelligence pipeline, and reports of Trump operatives secretly meeting Ukrainian opposition figures to explore removing Zelensky.
- Washington has gone from leading condemnation of Russia’s invasion to voting alongside North Korea and Belarus against UN resolutions condemning Russian aggression, a total reversal from its pre-January 20th stance.
- The United States is by far Ukraine’s largest lethal-aid donor, providing the equivalent of 64.1 billion euros compared to second-place Germany’s 12.6 billion, making any American cutoff disproportionately damaging.
- A draft minerals agreement Trump pushed Kyiv to sign would have required Ukraine to hand over a share of its GDP exceeding the reparations imposed on Germany after World War One, according to the Telegraph.
- China is seeking to exploit the US-Europe rift, with Beijing’s EU envoy openly criticizing Washington’s "brazen and domineering" treatment of its European allies and analysts describing the dynamic as China trying to peel Europe away from Washington.
## Key Developments
It began on Friday, 28th February with an Oval Office blowup that has already become infamous. It then continued over days of fallout and misery, each news cycle bringing more reasons to despair than before. The suspension of military aid. The switching off of the US intelligence pipeline. The bombshell story that Trump operatives were clandestinely meeting with Ukrainian opposition politicians, trying to plot a way to remove Zelensky from power. By the time the following Friday rolled around - March 7th - the list of disasters befalling Kyiv was starting to look like Vladimir Putin’s Christmas wish list, complete with moves to ease sanctions on Russia. While his popularity had been falling prior to the blowup in the Oval Office, a recent survey by polling company Survation put Zelensky’s support at 44 percent, a full twenty points ahead of his nearest rival. Unfortunately, there was more to Kyiv’s bad week than just the removal of aid and JD Vance manufacturing a blow-up in the Oval Office.
## Strategic Implications
Yet it wasn’t Moscow driving these developments. Nor was it events on the battlefield, where Ukraine’s armed forces are beginning to reverse months of Russian gains around Toretsk and Pokrovsk. No. The driving force of Ukraine’s week from hell was a former ally. An ally that now seems to have turned on Kyiv. An ally known as the United States. Beijing’s EU envoy Lu Shaye has recently begun making pro-Europe noises, telling the South China Morning Post (quote): “When you look at how the Trump administration has implemented a brazen and domineering policy towards Europe, treating its allies in this way, honestly, from a European perspective, it’s quite appalling.” As the Deputy Head of Eastern Europe & Eurasia Division at the SWP Berlin research institute drily noted on X: “Reverse-reverse Nixon is when China peels Europe away from Washington as a result of US-Russian rapprochement.” The broader idea, though - that American focus on Ukraine is an unwanted distraction from China - is one we should take seriously.
## Risk and Uncertainty
For most of us watching this war, the whiplash between America’s treatment of Ukraine prior to January 20th and afterwards has been total. From leading the condemnation of Putin’s colonial war, Washington has switched to voting against UN resolutions condemning Russia’s aggression - a stance that saw the US position itself alongside longtime enemies such as North Korea and Belarus. And the big question hanging over it all is: why? Why is Washington suddenly treating Ukraine not just as somebody else’s problem… but as an enemy? As the Telegraph pointed out, regarding one of the draft texts of the minerals agreement Trump tried to push Kyiv into signing (quote): “If this draft were accepted, Trump’s demands would amount to a higher share of Ukrainian GDP than reparations imposed on Germany at the Versailles Treaty (that ended World War One).” That question of “why” is one we’re going to take seriously in this video. To see if there isn’t a good faith or realpolitik answer that could explain the reversal.
## Outlook
But first, let’s just quickly recap the full extent of the calamity now befalling Ukraine, and how each of Washington’s recent moves badly undercuts the country’s war effort. Starting with the cutoff of military aid. In the three years since the Kremlin launched its unprovoked invasion, American military support for Kyiv has been critical. As the Kiel Institute’s support tracker shows, the US is by far the largest single donor of lethal aid - handing over the equivalent of 64.1 billion euros. Second place Germany, by contrast, has donated a mere 12.6 billion. This is the crux of the Trumpian complaints that Europe should do more to support Kyiv, instead of leaving America to carry the can. As the magazine writes: “In 2021, the last full year before the full-blown invasion of Ukraine, the United States absorbed a mere 3.6 percent of Russia’s exports and supplied just 5.9 percent of its imports.
## Related Coverage
- [The UAE is in MASSIVE Trouble.](https://warfronts.pub/conflicts/the-uae-is-in-massive-trouble)
- [This Is Ukraine’s Moment of Truth.](https://warfronts.pub/conflicts/this-is-ukraines-moment-of-truth)
- [This Is Ukraine’s Moment of Truth.](https://warfronts.pub/conflicts/this-is-ukraines-moment-of-truth-1bmuupct)
- [Donald Trump Has Cut Off Venezuelan Oil](https://warfronts.pub/conflicts/donald-trump-has-cut-off-venezuelan-oil)
- [Ukraine's Moment of Truth: Inside the November 2025 Peace Proposal Designed to Fail](https://warfronts-prod.fulcrum-labs.workers.dev/geopolitics/ukraine-moment-of-truth-peace-proposal-designed-to-fail)
## Frequently Asked Questions
### What sequence of events made up Ukraine’s week from hell?
The crisis began with a widely reported Oval Office blowup on Friday, February 28th, followed by the suspension of US military aid, the switching off of the American intelligence pipeline, and reports that Trump operatives were secretly meeting with Ukrainian opposition politicians to explore removing Zelensky from power. By March 7th, Washington was also moving to ease sanctions on Russia.
### How significant is US military support to Ukraine compared to other donors?
According to the Kiel Institute’s support tracker, the United States is by far the largest single donor of lethal aid to Ukraine, having provided the equivalent of 64.1 billion euros. Second-place Germany has donated a mere 12.6 billion euros by comparison, which underpins Washington’s complaints that Europe should do more.
### What did a draft minerals agreement reveal about Trump’s demands on Ukraine?
As the Telegraph reported, one draft of the minerals agreement Trump pushed Kyiv to sign would have given the United States a share of Ukrainian GDP that exceeded the reparations imposed on Germany after the First World War at Versailles, which critics described as extraordinary given the circumstances of the war.
### How has Washington’s stance at the United Nations shifted since January 20th?
The US switched from leading international condemnation of Russia’s invasion to voting against UN resolutions condemning Russian aggression, a position that placed Washington alongside longtime adversaries such as North Korea and Belarus, representing a total reversal of prior American policy.
### How is China seeking to exploit the rift between the United States and Europe?
Beijing’s EU envoy Lu Shaye began making pro-Europe statements, telling the South China Morning Post that the Trump administration’s treatment of its European allies was “quite appalling” from a European perspective. Analysts described the dynamic as a “Reverse-reverse Nixon,” with China attempting to peel Europe away from Washington as a result of growing US-Russia rapprochement.
## Sources
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
[1]: https://www.politico.eu/article/donald-trump-allies-secret-talks-volodymyr-zelenskyy-opposition-ukraine-elections-yulia-tymoshenko-petro-poroshenko/
[2]: https://kyivindependent.com/us-destroying-worl-order-zaluzhnyi-says/
[3]: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-plans-revoke-legal-status-ukrainians-who-fled-us-sources-say-2025-03-06/
[4]: https://www.ft.com/content/c58fccea-00c4-4fad-bc0a-0185b7415579
[5]: https://x.com/KofmanMichael/status/1896911815352995974
[6]: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/04/us-military-aid-ukraine-pause-trump-zelenskyy-updates
[7]: https://www.reuters.com/world/white-house-seeks-plan-possible-russia-sanctions-relief-sources-say-2025-03-03/
[8]: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/04/opinion/trump-zelensky-ukraine.html
[9]: https://apnews.com/article/cyber-command-russia-putin-trump-hegseth-c46ef1396e3980071cab81c27e0c0236
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