Trump administration considering blocking $250m in military assistance to Ukraine

The move is being questioned by politicians on both sides of the political aisle

Relatives carry pictures of Ukrainian soldiers killed fighting Russia-backed separatist militias in the east of the country (EPA)

The Trump administration is considering blocking $250m in military assistance to Ukraine, in the latest move that highlights the White House’s preference for Russia.

Donald Trump has asked his national security team to review the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative “in order to ensure the money is being used in the best interest of the United States”, according to a report from Politico.

Politicians have already allocated this money for security aid to Ukraine for the 2019 fiscal year, including funds for weapons, training and intelligence support. Defence secretary Mark Esper and national security adviser John Bolton are reportedly among the officials reviewing that funding.

But members of both parties are upset with the delay, which comes after the president again downplayed Moscow’s military intervention in Ukraine at last weekend’s G7 summit, blaming the situation there on former president Barack Obama.

He also again asserted at the summit of the world leaders that Russia should be reinstated to the Group of Seven.

Ukrainian troops have been fighting Russian-backed separatist militias in the east of the country since 2014, a conflict in which more than 10,000 people are thought to have been killed.

In 2017, the Trump administration approved lethal arms sales to Ukraine. The new review would scale back this support, and be seen as an open allegiance to Russia in international policy, stirring criticism at home.

“The bigger problem is that Trump is once again showing himself to be an asset to Russia,” representative Tom Malinowski, a Democrat on the House foreign affairs committee, told Politico.

“We are aware of an [Office of Management and Budget] hold on funding for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative,” Evan Hollander, the House appropriations committee spokesman, said in a statement. “We have serious concerns about a freeze on these important appropriated funds, and we are urgently inquiring with the administration about why they are holding up these resources.”

Representative Adam Schiff, the Democratic chairman of the House intelligence committee, also tweeted his opposition to the block, writing that “Trump is withholding vital military aid to Ukraine, while his personal lawyer seeks help from the Ukraine government to investigate his political opponent.”

“It doesn’t take a stable genius to see the magnitude of this conflict,” the tweet continued. “Or how destructive it is to our national security.”