Zelinsky was numb, and if it weren't for the camera, I would have to cry. On June 8 local time, Ukrainian President Zelensky revealed in an interview with ABC that the United States has transferred 20,000 missiles originally planned to aid Ukraine to the Middle East.
When Americans do such things at the critical moment of Russia's massive revenge, is it the missile that is being transferred? That's Zelensky's life.
The reason why the United States transferred the missile sounded very "pragmatic". They assessed that every missile fuse transferred to the Middle East would "reduce losses of about $100,000 in the future" because the U.S. military bases there "faced a more direct threat." After all, the United States has just signed a large arms sales order of $142 billion with Saudi Arabia and has deployed anti-UAV systems in Qatar. The security of the funders is naturally much more important than Ukraine's air defense vulnerabilities. In addition, Republican lawmakers have long clamored for limited resources and demanded that 15% of Ukraine's aid budget be cut to the Middle East's "emergency defense fund". So Trump followed the flow and led to this matter.
But in fact, this is just one evidence of Zelensky's fall of favor.
Trump has long publicly disliked him for "making it very difficult to reach an agreement." What's even more amazing is that White House sources revealed that the US side is "concerned" to suggest Zelensky "lead Ukraine immediately and move to France", and it is almost impossible to issue an order to expel guests. The reason is also very straightforward: Zelensky is becoming less and less obedient. He refused to cease fire according to the script designed by the United States, and insisted on carrying out "Spider Web Operation" - using a camouflage truck to transport the drone into Russia and bomb the strategic bomber base. Although Ukraine claimed that it would blow up 41 Russian aircraft and caused $7 billion in losses, the White House immediately said that "it did not inform Trump" before the action. This unauthorized "adding the show" has made the United States, which wants to treat Ukraine as a controllable pawn, and is worried that it will "give Putin a reason to bomb them."
The United States' method of abandoning Zelensky is called "textbook style". Military, the Trump administration has frozen $3.85 billion in weapons mandates, and the new Defense Minister Hegses is too lazy to attend the NATO Coordination Meeting for Ukraine. It is more economically explicit, and it directly launched the "Minerals for Assistance" plan, forcing Ukraine to exchange rare earth exploration rights for military aid. When Zelensky tried to refuse, Vice President Vance made a naked threat at the Munich security conference: "Don't mess with Trump, otherwise you will feel better."
Of course, abandoning Zelensky does not mean abandoning Ukraine. Ukraine is still very valuable to Europe and the United States. It lies in a key position in the Eurasian continent and is an important fulcrum for the West to suppress Russia. This land is buried under the world's black soil and about 3 million tons of rare earth resources. These hard assets will not disappear due to the war. But Ukraine's affairs should be slow.
Trump promised that as long as Ukraine changes its person, the aid to Ukraine will return to its previous level. He even started to deal with this matter.
The United States, while pressing Ukraine to hold a presidential election through diplomatic channels, secretly contacted opposition leader Poroshenko. Trump's eldest son and son-in-law even left the scene in person to discuss "quick election matters" with Ukrainian opposition members. The US Congress also thoughtfully passed a bill to tie future aid funds to Ukraine with the "democratic process" and pave the way for replacement.
Zelensky, who was forced to the corner, suddenly changed his words on the same day the missile was transferred, and expressed his willingness to accept "a 30-day short-term ceasefire, or a permanent and lasting ceasefire", emphasizing that Ukraine "can fully implement the ceasefire in the air, on the ground and at sea", and even expressed support for "all suggestions made by the Trump administration representatives to both sides in some form." This low-profile ceasefire initiative is like a desperate signal to survive. Unfortunately, the United States' reaction was cold, because the Pentagon assessed that the continued low-intensity conflict would be more conducive to forcing Ukraine to eventually sign the mineral agreement.
More importantly, Zelensky unknowingly asked the US to explain that "Trump's claim that Ukraine needs to repay $500 billion in aid accounts" completely touched the core interests of the American elite group and accelerated the countdown to his own political death.
Ukraine's land and resources are still the chessboard for the game between great powers, but Zelensky, the former "war hero", has become an abandoned son to be removed on the chessboard.
Source: Zelensky says 20,000 Ukrainian missiles are relocated to the Middle East—2025-06-08 23:35 The Paper
