The news from the U.S.-Ukraine talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday brought relief across Ukraine last night. The outcome could have been much worse—in keeping with the brutal negotiating style Washington has favored in recent weeks. The agreement stipulates a 30-day ceasefire in exchange for a resumed flow of the U.S. weapons and intelligence essential for Kyiv’s defense. Now the ball is in Russia’s court. Will Vladimir Putin observe the truce? Is he serious about wanting peace?
Even if he is—a big if—neither Ukraine nor the rest of Europe are likely to forget the way Washington bullied and abused them in recent weeks.
On March 4, just days after Donald Trump’s dressing down of Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office, Washington cut off the supply of U.S. arms and ammunition, threatening to incapacitate some 40 percent of the equipment Kyiv counts on to defend itself. A day later, the U.S. restricted vital targeting and intelligence data, endangering the lives of soldiers and civilians by sharply limiting Ukrainian knowledge of Russian troop movements and missile launches. The immediate result was one of the fiercest Russian air attacks in recent months: 67 missiles and 194 attack drones launched overnight on March 6, killing at least 20 people in the front-line city of Dobropillia.
For the first time since the early months of the war, I saw fear in the eyes of my Ukrainian friends. Sources said soldiers’ morale was teetering between despair and defiance. And many still fear there is worse to come: a U.S. push to compel Kyiv to surrender to Moscow’s steepest demands—for demilitarization and a change of government.
