Art of the Deal: Stopping Russia

"We're sending weapons to NATO, and NATO is paying for those weapons, 100 percent."

"So what we're doing is, the weapons that are going out are going to NATO, and then NATO is going to be giving those weapons [to Ukraine], and NATO is paying for those weapons." 

U.S. President Donald Trump 

 

"[The U.S. is encouraging its NATO allies] to provide those weapons, systems, the defensive systems that Ukraine seeks ... since they have them in their stocks, and then we can enter into financial agreements with them, with us, where they can purchase the replacements."

"It's a lot faster to move something, for example, from Germany to Ukraine than it is to order it from a [U.S.] factory and get it there."

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio

 

"There is no silence in Ukraine."

"We found a solution, as a country, scientists and engineers fund a solution. That's the key."

"We need financing. And then, we will intercept."

"Russia does not change its strategy, and to effectively counter this terror we need a systemic strengthening of defences: more air defences, more interceptor [drones], more determination to make Russia feel our response."  

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy 

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, first responders work to extinguish a fire following a Russian attack in the Kyiv region on Friday. (Ukrainian Emergency Service/The Associated Press)

 

That's the beauty of the 'art of the deal', so beloved of the American President. He can advance aid to Ukraine, fighting for its survival against a larger army with endless military equipment at its disposal, in a  tangential manner without direct involvement that would really annoy his erstwhile friend Vladimir Putin and in the process ensure that American manufacturers of military equipment gain new orders to be sent on to Europe, finessing a deal that transactionally benefits the United States financially.

 

So the answer to the quandary is encouraging allies to transfer their U.S.-made, high-functional military gear to Ukraine, with the Trump administration's approval, while holding out the advantage to all concerned of bolstering American weapons-producers through future sales to replenish their reduced stocks. Finessing the art of the deal, pleasing the mercurial president no end at his clever manoeuvres. It is Europe, after all, that would find itself in Russia's crosshairs should its 'special military operation' in Ukraine gain Moscow its territorial enterprise aspirations.

 

As Secretary of State Marco Rubio pointed out, the U.S.-made weapons Ukraine desperately seeks are already deployed with NATO allies in Europe, transferable to Ukraine, leaving European countries to seek replacements from the United States. Greater numbers of Patriot air defence systems are badly needed by Ukraine in its efforts to stop Russian ballistic and cruise missiles at a time when the Trump White House issues conflicting views of its preparedness to provide more vital military equipment to Ukraine.

 

 

First there was a pause on the shipments of some weapons from the U.S., then the  usual Trump turnaround stating he would continue sending defensive weapons to Kyiv. U.S. officials assured Ukraine this week that 155 mm munitions and precision-guided rockets were in transit. Patriot missile systems are in the possession of Germany, Spain and other European countries, among whom some have placed orders to acquire more of them.

 

Russia is attempting to overwhelm Ukraine's air defences through the launch of major aerial attacks on its cities. In relation to which Ukraine has pleaded with other European countries for supplies of an additional ten Patriot systems and missiles. Russia had fired over 700 attack and decoy drones at Ukraine last week, in numbers well in excess of previous nightly barrages for the third time in a two-week period. This, at a time when Russia's military is pressing on the front line where thousands of soldiers on both sides have died since February 2022.

 

Waves of drone and missile attacks targeted Kyiv overnight into Friday in the largest aerial attack since Russia's invasion of Ukraine began more than three years ago, injuring 23 people and inflicting severe damage across multiple districts of the capital in a seven-hour onslaught. (Gleb Garanich/Reuteres)

 

A Russian drone barrage hit the centre of Kharkiv before dawn on Friday, damaging a maternity hospital in the second-larges city in Ukraine. Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, has endured intensifying repeated drone attacks recently, as have other regions of the country. The highest monthly civilian casualties of the past three years occurred in June, with 232 people killed and 1,343 wounded, as a result of Russia launching ten times more drones and missiles in that month as they had a year ago that month. 

 

Mr. Zelenskyy reminded his European colleagues that Moscow has plans to manufacture up to 1,000 drones a day, fashioning them after the Shahed drones supplied to Russia by the Islamic Republic of Iran, with modifications to make them even more effective. More interceptor drones are also required by Ukraine, to down Russian drones. The repeated Russian drone and missile onslaughts inspired Kyiv authorities to establish a comprehensive drone interception system under a project named Clear Sky.

 

The Clear Sky project includes a $6.2-million interceptor drone investment, operator training and new mobile response units, according to the head of the Kyiv Military Administration. And it is the production of the newly developed interceptor drones proven successful against Shaheds, that Mr. Zelenskyy appealed to his European partners to help accelerate production for. Ukraine is also installing nets to deflect the drones by interrupting their settings and neutralizing them.

 

A woman stands next to damaged cars following what local authorities said was a Ukrainian drone attack, amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict, in the town of Voronezh, Russia July 15, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer

 

 

Ukraine's Dire War Production Requirements

Funeral of Ukrainian F-15 pilot in Kyiv, July 3, 2025    AP Photo

 

"[Patriot systems are] critically necessary [for Ukraine, but U.S.-made HIMARS precision-guided missiles, also paused, are in less urgent need as other countries produce similar assets]."

"Other countries that have these [Patriot] systems can only transfer them with U.S. approval. The real question now is how far the United States is willing to to go in its reluctance to support Ukraine."

"There are enough missiles out there."

"This is war -- and in war, steady deliveries are always crucial."

Senior (name withheld) Ukrainian official 

 

"We can’t let Putin prevail now. President Trump knows that too and it’s why he’s been advocating for peace."

"Now is the time to show Putin we mean business. And that starts with ensuring Ukraine has the weapons Congress authorized to pressure Putin to the negotiating table."

Rep. Michael McCaul, R- Texas

 

"We can’t give weapons to everybody all around the world."

"Part of our job is to give the president a framework that he can use to evaluate how many munitions we have where we’re sending them."

"And that review process is happening right now and is ongoing."

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell  

Getty Images 

 

Russia's larger military is in the process of a concerted movement on parts of the 1,000-kilometre front line in its conflict with Ukraine. It is also intensifying long-range drone and missile attacks, hammering Ukrainian cities. And it is at this critical time that Ukraine has been apprised by indirect means that the weapons it has been waiting for from the U.S., which during the three-1/2 year war have been supplied fulsomely, are now in pause mode. Ukraine's largest military backer since February 24, 2022 now sees the Trump administration disengaging even as there is no foreseeable end to the conflict, despite fruitless peace talks.

 

President Trump held a "frank and constructive" talk with his Russian counterpart Thursday morning, which resolved nothing. President Putin's foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, explained that Mr. Trump had emphasized his urging for a swift  end to the fighting. Vladimir Putin's response was to voice Moscow's preparedness in pursuing talks with Kyiv, while emphasizing that Moscow seeks to achieve its goals to remove the "root causes" of the conflict. "Russia will not back down from these goals", repeated Ushakov.

 

Concerns are at their height in Kyiv relating to the military support allies are able and willing to supply and how expeditiously, as Ukraine races to build on its own domestic defence industry. Patriot air defence missiles are the  high-tech U.S. weapons seen to be irreplaceable, required to protect against Russia's ballistic missile attacks, costing a cool $4 million each. It is that vital system included in the delivery pause, leaving many of Ukraine's cities including its capital, increasingly vulnerable.

 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has had to cope with, among other challenges, fraught relations with the American president, leading him to turn increasingly to his European partners for greater assistance for his country's plans in arms manufacturing. Lacking the production levels, military stockpiles or the technology to pick up the slack left by the U.S. pause, European supporters can do just so much, while Zelenskyy recruits their help for ambitious joint investment projects. Even while the situation feeds into NATO's new U.S.-imposed higher member-state commitments to spending on defense.

 

Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy met up last month on the sidelines of NATO summit in the Netherlands.  (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters)

 

The Ukrainian parliament is preparing to vote this month on draft legislation to aid Ukrainian defence manufacturers scale up and modernize military weaponry production. Included is new facilities to be built at home and abroad, announced by Defence Minister Rustem Umerov. A month earlier President Zelenskyy announced that major investments will go to production of drones and artillery shells. "The volume of support this year is the largest since the start of the full-scale war", he commented of foreign countries' commitments.

 

Also included in the pause aside from Patriot missiles, are the AIM-7 Sparrow air-to-air missile and shorter range Stinger missiles -- while Ukrainian cities will in all likelihood see more Russian missiles pierce their air defences.  There does not appear to be a shortage of ammunition for Ukrainian troops at present, despite that during the war there were times of such shortages, unlike the situation with Russian troops, amply supplied with ammunition. 

 

The problem facing the Ukrainian military is its lack of soldiers. Its desperate manpower shortage has forced the army to turn to drones in compensation. As such, analysts claim the front is not in danger of a collapse.