AIBU to be utterly horrified that the US has cut off military aid to Ukraine?

I bet it's by Hugo Boss

Sorry that was meant to quote someone mentioning Musks suit

Indeed but the EU didn't gift the money as a grant, it just loaned Ukraine money. At some point they'll want it back.

Well it doesn’t count for anything now. Which is fortunate in some ways because we certainly won’t be supporting the US the next time it wages war as it has so frequently in the last 30 years. Where will we be when Trump decides to take Greenland by force, I wonder?

@Stirabout

The sigh was because I've been accused of 'sneering inaccurately', blaming the retirees and being 'desperate to blame the English, all alongside liberal use of stupid passive aggressive emojis. All of which could be construed as 'rude remarks'. When I literally said I didn't know it for a fact but had read it, then posted an apparently reputable analysis three times, so without reading either of the first two (or the third for all I know) you were rude to me again.

It's unnecessary.
Doesn't feel nice does it...

Having read it in full, as opposed to selected passages, I know what the report says CleansUpButWouldPreferNotTo ... which is why In referred to "questions" being raised rather than the full outcome being known

And I agree about the "special relationship" certainly being damaged if not actually over, @Blossomtoes, but then I've never really believed it counted for much at the highest levels beyond our usefulness as a launch pad and the UK doing a "pick me" dance in the hope America would go on paying

Agree completely. Since when has Putin ever stopped? We have been caught with our pants down and will need to be ever ready after this. We can no longer skimp on it and presume the next 10 years will be peaceful.

Europe will never be “off the hook” for increased defence spending now. The US is an unreliable ally and has proved it can’t be depended upon. It’s very clear that Europe must be as self reliant as possible. The special relationship with the UK has gone.

Puzzledandpissedoff

Interesting, too, that while there's a popular narrative that the US has effectively spent the "hardware money" within its own borders, nothing's been said about the many questions around the disappearance of said hardware once in Ukrainian hands (see link at 12:16)

Here's that link at 12:16 and what it says:

The invasion of Ukraine has led to a larger quantity of weapons entering Europe, and thus a greater possibility for weapons to go missing. Since 2022, there have been sporadic reports of small and large arms being stolen in Ukraine. In early 2022, a Russian-led criminal organization operating in Ukraine reportedly stole at least one grenade launcher, a machine gun, and over 1,000 rounds of ammunition to sabotage and destabilize Ukraine’s efforts to secure the region. Although it is difficult to confirm when and where weapons are stolen, the sheer scale of weapon transfers means that it is highly likely that some weapons will go missing over the course of the conflict.

However, when examining the extent to which illicit weapons are being used or sold in Ukraine, it is important to acknowledge the massive amount of Russian disinformation about these weapons. Russia has been working within the United Nations to spread disinformation about the state of weapons being sold to Ukraine by the United States and other Western nations. Reports about Finnish gangsters, French rioters, Nigerian fighters, and Mexican cartels gaining weapons—like rifles and grenade launchers—from Ukraine have all been debunked as Russian propaganda attempting to sway the United States and NATO allies to decrease arms transfers. Russia is actively trying to disincentivize US support for Kyiv, which necessitates caution when discussing illicit weapons trading in Europe.

https://hir.harvard.edu/facts-or-false-alarms-the-state-of-illicit-arms-in-ukraine/

Why is Trump talking about recompense via Ukraine’s minerals then?

Trump only has to please Americans, not the world. Which he appears to be doing at the moment. Many Americans don't travel abroad so we're not high on their list of priorities. The dollar in their wallet, the price of eggs, meat are grabbing their attention just now.

I’m still not sure what this job is

I thought I'd answered that, @Cardibach, but apologies if I put it badly.
For me at least "the job" involves securing a peace via arrangements that the various parties can broadly live with - something which others have strived for but haven't yet managed

And yes, some world leaders may well insist that they've been "let down", not unlike a teenager who's been told they can't borrow the car now, but I'm confident they'll change their tune if a peace can be sorted out and they're off the hook for the defence spending they should have increased decades ago

Elon put on a suit 😂

That is financial aid only

This one is all aid

While broadly true the devil's in the detail, caringcarer, and I don't really imagine the EU believes it has a hope in hell of ever seeing the money again, but you'll get predictable pushback for pointing out that much of the US money was indeed grants

Interesting, too, that while there's a popular narrative that the US has effectively spent the "hardware money" within its own borders, nothing's been said about the many questions around the disappearance of said hardware once in Ukrainian hands (see link at 12:16)

Too inconvenient perhaps?

I’m still not sure what this job is. America has always called most of the shots. USAID helped keep lots of very useful governments (such as a Jordan) on side and doing stuff that helped the US. They won’t be doing that going forward and will be unlikely to trust the US again. Experts believe the cutting of funding worldwide through USAID will be very damaging to US influence.
You think world leaders aren’t more anti-America now? Canadian? EU? U.K.? Baltic states? They’ve been badly let down or actually threatened. I don’t think there was significant anti Americanism before - I’m not aware of it - but there is now.

According to BBC website they report information from Kiel Institute it is.

To expand on the loan situation, about 35% of EU aid is in the form of loans, but they have a 10 year grace period and 35 year repayment, and the EU has recognised that it’s likely this will have to be renegotiated and a significant amount written off in the future. The most recent loans are to be paid off with the interest from seized Russian assets.

To date, we have provided $66.5 billion in military assistance since Russia launched its premeditated, unprovoked, and brutal full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, and approximately $69.2 billion in military assistance since Russia's initial invasion of Ukraine in 2014. We have now used the emergency Presidential Drawdown Authority on 55 occasions since August 2021 to provide Ukraine military assistance totaling approximately $31.7 billion from DoD stockpiles.

https://www.state.gov/bureau-of-political-military-affairs/releases/2025/01/u-s-security-cooperation-with-ukraine

Take off your maga hat, let some oxygen get to your brain cells, the clanking sound is your brain starting to work.

I suspect though, that even in the face of numerous sources contesting your facts, you won't be persuaded because that's what you want to believe.

Ps Trump lies....alot.

If it turns out that Trump really has trashed the nation's "soft power" then it would turn out very badly, but while the current job's underway I'd say the jury's out on that however much some might wish it otherwise

As ever time will tell and if this all falls apart Trump will rightly get his share of the blame, but while many rant and rave on SM I'm not seeing the same level of anti-Americanism there's been for years from many world leaders, and that'll be a refreshing change for many

If you don't like factcheck.org, will you accept the US State Department or Reuters?

Yes there are lots of figures swirling around. But the common consensus is that a great part of the US aid to Ukraine has been spent inside the US paying its industries who manufacture military hardware.

No, that’s not true either.

They are pretty sound actually. Here’s their background/mission/funding https://www.factcheck.org/spindetectors/about/
And this is their reliability and bias scores - pretty good reliability and a bias just slightly to the left (-1.76 on a -42 to +42 scale where minus indicates left leaning https://adfontesmedia.com/factcheck-org-bias-and-reliability/

The US has mostly grants that do not have to be repaid whereas the EU has given mostly loans they expect to be repaid.

caringcarer · Today 12:06

The US has paid more than all other countries put together.

Reuters states:

OVERALL AID
Europe has been the biggest provider of aid to Ukraine, allocating 132 billion euros (138.75 billion) of financial, military and humanitarian assistance since January 2022, just before Russia's invasion, while the United States has provided 114 billion euros in total, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy

www.reuters.com/world/how-much-aid-have-ukraines-western-allies-provided-2025-03-04/