Donald Trump suspends US intelligence sharing ....
It's ‘suffocating’ Ukraine’s hope, says Ben Wallace
Reporting from Ukraine, Al Jazeera’s Charles Stratford said he had spoken with a Ukrainian commander in a unit close to the front line.
“He said that his unit and many like him right the way along that 1,300km [808 miles] front line in the east and south of Ukraine relied on American intelligence gathering for around 90 percent of the intelligence work that is done,” Stratford said.
“He said that they received no help today and that indeed the Americans seem to have turned that system off.”
Ukraine uses US intelligence for a range of purposes, Stratford suggested – including, for instance, for its Patriot missile system, which is critical to Kyiv’s abilities to knock down incoming Russian ballistic missiles.
The US cut off intelligence sharing with Ukraine days after suspending military aid.
This could blind Ukraine’s military, say experts.
Former UK defence secretary suggests Ukraine can still win the war if it continues holding off Russian forces
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| Waiting for the last laugh !! |
Ben Wallace, the former UK defence secretary, has said Donald Trump’s decision to suspend US intelligence sharing with Kyiv is “suffocating” Ukrainian hope of holding out against Russian aggression.
Last Friday, the US president, along with the vice-president, JD Vance, berated Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office in full view of the media, telling the Ukrainian president that he was “gambling with world war three” and to come back to the White House “when he is ready for peace”.
In the week since, the US stopped sharing intelligence with Kyiv that had previously given advance warnings of attacks and Brussels agreed to a huge increase in defence spending.
On Friday, the day after intelligence sharing ceased, Russia carried out massive ballistic missile and drone strikes across Ukraine. Soon after the aerial attacks, Trump said Vladimir Putin was “doing what anybody would do”.
Wallace, who was the defence secretary when Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, said on Saturday that Trump was diminishing the hope of Ukraine with his actions.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he said: “Hope is the most important thing in this type of conflict and, at the moment, Donald Trump is suffocating the hope that Putin can be either fought to a standstill or indeed brought to the table.”
“Hope is always the key for both morale and a military campaign.
When this started three years ago, I remember gathering the military officials in my then department, and saying on day one, we have to give the Ukrainians hope," he said.
“If a Russian truck has a puncture, we need to let people know. If the Russians have a small defeat, we need to let the Ukrainian people know.”
Wallace suggested that Ukraine could still win the war if it continued holding off Russian forces.
He said: “If Ukraine continues to resist for 18 months, the Russian economy will collapse.
Its inflation rate’s at 23%, it’s spending 40% of its money [on defence], it’s finding it incredibly hard to replace its equipment.
It can use North Koreans like cannon fodder, but fundamentally, it is not in a good place.
“Ukraine is not trying to invade Russia and go all the way to Moscow.
Ukraine is trying to defend its sovereignty and its land and there is hope for them. If we were to all step up, either substitute what the Americans have taken away, or indeed show proper European resolve, and in that I include the United Kingdom, that we ain’t going anywhere.”
Leaders in Europe have convened in the past week in response to Washington’s change in stance on the war. Keir Starmer said Europe is “at a crossroads in history” and confirmed that the UK and France would lead a “coalition of the willing” to help end the fighting.
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, warned that “the only imperial power that I see today in Europe is Russia” and called Vladimir Putin “an imperialist who seeks to rewrite history” after the Russian president appeared to compare him to Napoleon Bonaparte.
Wallace said: “I’ve seen good leadership from both Keir Starmer and President Macron on this and they should both be congratulated.
Since the war broke out, the US has – in addition to billions of dollars in sophisticated weaponry – shared intelligence with Ukraine using its vast spying capabilities, helping Kyiv both defensively and in plotting attacks on Russian forces.
That came to a halt on Wednesday when US officials confirmed that President Donald Trump had ordered the suspension of intelligence sharing with Kyiv. The move came two days after the US paused military aid to Ukraine, amid souring relations between Trump and Zelenskyy.
So just how much has the US helped Ukraine with intelligence during the war?
How much will the absence of US intelligence hurt Ukraine? And can Europe step up and help Ukraine out?
ends
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