By MOSCOW — From where President Vladimir Putin is sitting, it looks like Russia is now winning a yearslong struggle with the United States and the West. And the result may be more war.
President Donald Trump’s announcement overnight that the United States would immediately halt military aid to Ukraine was welcomed by the Kremlin on Tuesday, and his decision appears to vindicate Putin’s visceral dislike of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Meanwhile, the White House’s growing differences with NATO, the 32-member U.S.-led military alliance set up to counter the Soviet Union after World War II, and apparent rapprochement with Russia are fracturing the Western liberal order that for decades contained Putin’s ambitions.
The fight is by no means over.
Hours after Trump’s announcement on Ukraine, European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced plans to strengthen Europe’s defense industry and increase military capabilities by freeing close to 800 billion euros ($841.4 billion).
“We’re living in the most momentous and dangerous of times,” she said in a statement. “We are in an era of rearmament.”
