The only support the United States still provides Ukraine free of charge is intelligence, including coordinates for strikes on Russian military positions in Ukraine and Russia’s energy infrastructure, The Atlantic reported, citing U.S. and Ukrainian sources.
The magazine credited CIA Director John Ratcliffe with maintaining the policy, saying he “impresses President Donald Trump on the golf course with stunning figures” on Russia’s battlefield losses, which now exceed 40,000 personnel a month, The New Voice of Ukraine said in an article.
One Western intelligence official told The Atlantic that Ratcliffe attributes his success to the fact that “Trump doesn’t like losers.” As long as Ukraine is perceived as winning, Trump is less inclined to withdraw support and walk away, the official said.
In an article published on July 30, The Atlantic reported that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had persuaded Trump to ask Elon Musk to allow Ukraine to use Starlink during strikes on targets in Russia.
Ukraine is not asking for anything that would cost U.S. taxpayers money — only permission to use its domestically produced munitions more effectively and, when interceptor missiles are unavailable, destroy Russian missile launchers before they fire. Granting the request could even bring additional benefits to the Pentagon and CIA, the article said.
