DEEP DIVE — For months it was a hypothetical query: May Ukraine proceed to struggle if the Trump administration ends its assist? Late Monday, President Trump made it an pressing actuality, briefly suspending the supply of all U.S. navy support to Ukraine, within the newest and most substantial blow to Ukraine’s resistance in opposition to Russia.

The order got here simply three days after Trump’s public criticism of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky within the Oval Workplace, and can have an effect on greater than $1 billion in American weapons which are within the support pipeline. A White Home official advised information companies that the maintain on navy support would stay in place till President Trump determines that Ukraine is dedicated to peace negotiations with Russia. The suspension additionally briefly halts lots of of thousands and thousands of {dollars} in U.S. support that had been supplied by means of the Ukraine Safety Help Initiative, which despatched funds to Ukraine that needed to be spent on purchases from American protection corporations.