US is freezing military aid to Ukraine – and that will help Russia

According to the new administration, the United States will freeze all military aid to Ukraine.  

The decision comes after several days of intense and heated negotiations with the Ukrainian government about the future of the three-year conflict.  

Freezing security aid to Ukraine will help Russia and very likely distance the U.S. from its NATO and European allies. According to reports, the U.S. has also now paused the sharing of all intelligence information with Ukraine.

Since the beginning of the large-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. has stood firm by the side of Ukraine. Abiding by the ideals of freedom from oppression and independence, the U.S. has provided key security aid to the Ukrainian military, enabling it to defend its country against difficult odds.  

Now, however, the U.S. has decided to freeze military aid. A reason circulated by the White House is the need to end the conflict. However, stopping aid to Ukraine will only empower Russia and very likely distance NATO and European partners from America.  

The European Union, many of its countries also NATO member states, has already announced a grand military spending program that could even reach close to $1 trillion in the next few years.  

Moreover, many NATO countries, including the United Kingdom and France, are coalescing together without the U.S. to continue the support of Ukraine.  

However, supporting Ukraine is not the only morally right thing to do – it also makes sense strategically and economically.  

It is actually cheaper  

The Pentagon allocates approximately $200 billion a year from its vast defense budget to counter threats posed by Russia.

The weapon systems and capabilities that result from these funds can have multiple uses. For example, an F-35A stealth fighter jet bought by the Air Force to bolster its deterrence capabilities in eastern Europe can easily operate against Chinese aircraft in the Indo-Pacific. Similarly, an Army Special Forces operator assigned to the 10th Special Forces Group, which has Europe as its area of operations, can also operate in the Middle East if necessary. However, countering Russia by supporting Ukraine makes is vastly more efficient and cost effective.  

According to the latest data from the State Department, the U.S. has allocated approximately $67 billion to Ukraine in military assistance. That averages to about $22 billion a year in weapons and training.

For that $67 billion (instead of around $600 billion that the Pentagon spent to counter Russia in the same period of time), the Ukrainian military has managed to kill or wound almost one million Russian troops and damage or destroy tens of thousands of heavy weapon systems. Entire capabilities – such as special operations forces – of the Russian armed forces have been degraded from the fighting and will take years to reach pre-war levels.

The Russian military today relies on golf carts to send troops to fight, so heavy have been its losses of armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles. And when it comes to artillery guns – the deadliest weapon on the battlefield – the Russian forces are using 60-year-old guns due to the high attrition.  

The U.S. could easily continue its security aid to Ukraine and allocate funds it dedicates to deter Russia to more serious threats, such as China.  

Feature Image: Russian soldiers in formation (Russian Ministry of Defence)

Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to mention that, according to reports, the U.S. has now also stopped intelligence sharing with Ukraine.

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