[Text/Observer Network Qi Qian] After being embroiled in two "group chat leak" scandals in a short period of time, US Defense Secretary Heng Sisi is in trouble again.
On May 6, Reuters published an article mentioning that in January, about a week after President Trump took office, the US military ordered three cargo airlines to stop 11 flights fully loaded with shells and other weapons heading to Ukraine. However, this was more than a month before Trump officially ordered the suspension of aid to Ukraine in March. More bizarrely, the aid flights resumed less than a week later.
Reuters reviewed records from the US Transportation Command and found that this oral order came from the office of Defense Secretary Heng Sisi.
According to multiple sources, Trump once proposed stopping aid to Ukraine during a White House meeting but did not issue any instructions. The clearly mistaken Heng Sisi issued the order to halt operations without informing Trump or other senior officials.
The White House responded that Heng Sisi followed Trump's instructions and claimed it was the position of the administration at that time, citing the "complex and ever-changing" negotiations between Russia and Ukraine. However, many informed sources told Reuters that this incident exposed the chaotic policy-making process within the Trump administration, particularly the chaos and lack of experience at the Pentagon, which have become open secrets.
"The defense secretary issued an oral order without Trump's knowledge."
According to reports, several sources familiar with the meeting said that on January 30 local time, Trump held a meeting about the Ukrainian issue in the Oval Office of the White House, attended by Heng Sisi, Secretary of State Rubio, and other senior advisors. Heng Sisi urged the White House to consider suspending arms shipments to Ukraine to gain leverage in negotiations with Russia.
Two sources said that during the meeting, Trump mentioned the idea of halting assistance to Ukraine but did not issue any orders.
However, shortly after the meeting ended, the three cargo airlines received orders from the Department of Defense regarding the suspension of aid to Ukraine. In a panic, Ukrainians and Polish officials responsible for coordinating transportation anxiously asked what happened in the White House. It was revealed that the White House had no clue about this event, and even Trump himself and other senior officials were unaware of Heng Sisi's order.
Trump and Heng Sisi hold a press conference at the White House - Video screenshot
Reuters could not determine the exact time Heng Sisi issued the order. Two sources said that Ukrainian and European officials began asking questions on February 2. Records from the US Transportation Command show that the defense secretary issued an oral order to suspend aid flights, but the flights resumed on February 5.
Reuters said it could not determine whether Heng Sisi or his team knew how the suspension order sent to the US Transportation Command would be implemented or whether it would have a significant impact on US policy toward Ukraine. According to records reviewed by Reuters, the cancellation of these flights caused approximately $2.2 million in losses for the US Transportation Command.
It is currently unclear whether Trump subsequently questioned or reprimanded Heng Sisi.
Recently, Heng Sisi has been embroiled in two "leak scandal" incidents in quick succession. After leaking military secrets in a Signal group chat, he was also exposed for posting detailed military plans in a family group chat. Trump chose to support Heng Sisi, insisting that he was only being attacked by "disgruntled employees."
"This kind of chaos has become an open secret."
About a month later, on March 4, the White House announced that the order to suspend military aid authorized by the Biden administration officially took effect. Reuters said that this incident exposed the chaotic policy-making process within the Trump administration and the unclear command structure even among high-level members of the government.
Five informed sources confirmed that the prolonged suspension of flights also indicated confusion in formulating and executing national security policies. This confusion is already an open secret at the Pentagon, with many current and former officials stating that there are divisions within the Department of Defense on foreign policy, deep-seated resentment among staff, and insufficient experience.
According to an informed Ukrainian official, after the flight cancellations, Ukraine quickly sought information through various channels from the US government but received no useful responses. The person said that in subsequent discussions with Ukraine, the US government attributed this incident to "internal politics."
Three informed sources said that Heng Sisi misunderstood Trump's intentions. Another two sources denied that aid had truly stopped. One argued that this was merely a logistical pause. "They just wanted to understand what was happening, and as a result, people misinterpreted it as needing to stop everything."
In response, the White House said that Heng Sisi followed Trump's instruction to suspend aid to Ukraine and claimed it was the position of the administration at that time. White House spokesperson Levitt said, "Negotiations to end the war between Russia and Ukraine have always been a complex and ever-changing situation. We will not detail every conversation between high-ranking officials in the government throughout this process. In summary, compared to when Trump first took office, this war is now closer to ending."
However, Reuters pointed out that the White House's response did not explain why other senior national security officials were unaware of the order in the normal decision-making process, nor did it explain why the order was so quickly revoked.
"This aligns with the Trump administration's rapid action, disrupting the status quo, and resolving issues afterward, which is their management philosophy," said Mark Cancian, a retired Marine Corps officer and defense expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "This works great for Silicon Valley. But when you're dealing with institutions that have existed for hundreds of years, you run into problems."
White House infighting hinders US mediation on the Ukraine issue.
Since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in February 2022, the US has approved over $1 billion worth of military aid to Ukraine. Most of the aid was delivered during the Biden administration. However, some aid is still being prepared and is planned to be delivered this summer.
During the campaign, Trump repeatedly threatened to freeze aid, but he has yet to take action since taking office. Although he announced the suspension of aid in early March, the last batch of aid approved by the Biden administration has resumed distribution, and no new policies have been announced.
Reuters cited informed sources saying that officials in the White House are deeply divided on the Ukraine issue. Officials like Heng Sisi and Vance advocate "America First," calling for the US to withdraw its military commitments in the Middle East and Europe. Meanwhile, Ukraine envoy Kellogg and Middle East envoy Witkov, appointed by Trump, advocate negotiating with both Russia and Ukraine.
Ukraine envoy Kellogg, appointed by Trump, is considered to have a friendly stance toward Ukraine - Ukrainian Presidential Website
Recently, several Trump administration officials have publicly stated that if there are no clear signs of progress in peace talks in the near future, the US will no longer participate in mediation. On April 22, Axios News Network in the US cited "directly informed sources" reporting that the US previously submitted Trump's "final peace agreement" proposal to Ukraine in Paris.
According to the report, the proposal was only "one page" long and included content such as the US recognizing Crimea as Russian territory and "informally" recognizing Russia's control over almost all occupied areas since the 2022 Russia-Ukraine conflict. According to this proposal, Ukraine cannot join NATO but can join the EU, with European countries providing "strong security guarantees" to Ukraine.
On April 25, Time magazine published an interview with Trump on its website. When discussing the Ukraine issue, Trump blamed Kyiv for starting the war and said that "Ukraine will lose about 20% of its territory," with Crimea belonging to Russia.
On April 26, during the funeral of Pope Francis at the Vatican, Trump briefly met with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. Later, Trump posted on social media expressing dissatisfaction with Putin. He claimed that he was seriously considering imposing large-scale bank sanctions, sanctions, and tariffs on Russia, which would continue until a ceasefire and final peace agreement were achieved.
The US Treasury Department announced on April 30 that the US and Ukraine signed an agreement to establish the US-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund.
Local time on May 2, Reuters reported, citing three US officials and one informed source, that US officials had finalized a new round of economic sanctions against Russia, including measures targeting the banking and energy sectors, further increasing pressure on Moscow to accept Trump's demand to end the war quickly.
Reuters analysis said that if Trump approves new sanctions against Russia after the US-Ukraine mineral agreement is signed, it may indicate a tougher stance toward the Kremlin. Three months after the change of administration, no consensus on a peace agreement has been reached between Russia and Ukraine, and Trump is losing patience.
Trump has been in office for more than 100 days, but the rapid resolution of the Russia-Ukraine conflict he promised during his campaign has shown no obvious progress.
Regarding this, in an interview broadcast by NBC on May 4, Trump spoke vaguely. While expressing hope for the prospects of peace talks, he also admitted that reaching a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine is very difficult. He said that he might announce at some point that he will abandon further participation in the Russia-Ukraine peace talks, and perhaps (Russia and Ukraine) may not reach an agreement.
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Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7501346141036904960/
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