The Pentagon and its myriad mistakes, and the sabotage by America’s allies

Whenever an important decision lands on Pete Hegseth’s desk, trouble ensues: for many, particularly for the United States’ allies and for Ukraine. The head of the Pentagon has priorities that have little to do with Western security and, whilst prioritising bombastic rhetoric about masculinity and freedom of expression, tight-fitting T-shirts and public push-ups, his incompetence is evident in the fact that the defence ministry of a superpower has exhausted its arsenals in five months of war. Since Hegseth, like the entire Trump administration, is incapable of admitting his mistakes, a scapegoat is needed – and one has been found, from the very beginning and to varying degrees, in Ukraine. 

The latest act in an ongoing campaign of sabotage against the Ukrainian ally is the one confirmed by President Volodymyr Zelensky yesterday following various rumours: namely, the blocking of arms supplies to Kyiv, in particular the indispensable Patriot interceptors, which had in fact been purchased by European allies through the PURL mechanism. This mechanism, introduced a year ago, put an end to the United States’ unconditional solidarity with an ally under attack and shifted the burden of this support onto Ukraine’s European partners, who began purchasing American weapons and then sending them to Kyiv. For this reason, the term ‘sabotage’ – which is increasingly being used to describe the American approach to Ukraine’s defence (previously there had been, so to speak, merely a withdrawal) – is the correct one: these weapons, which the Pentagon now refuses to supply to Kyiv – complaining that they are needed to counter Iranian attacks in the Gulf – have already been purchased and therefore paid for by the Europeans; in other words, Washington is failing to honour an agreement that was, in fact, to its own advantage.

The previous incident, which dates back a few days – as the situation has deteriorated very rapidly – concerns the restriction of information flows from Starshield, the so-called ‘military package’ of the Starlink satellite constellation that provides essential intelligence to Ukrainian soldiers on the front line. It has not yet been clarified what actually happened: Elon Musk, the owner of Starlink, has said that he is not responsible for the restriction of the service, as Starshield is managed by the Pentagon; two anonymous sources told Reuters that the decision was taken at the White House; the British Telegraph reported that it was Musk who suggested to Donald Trump that the use of satellite intelligence be scaled back in order to force Zelensky not to carry out attacks on Russian refineries; Senator Marco Rubio said: “I think Zelensky doesn’t know what he’s talking about” when he says that the restrictions on Starlink were deliberate, “nobody ordered Starlink’s speed to be reduced; it just happened”. Hegseth did not even provide any explanation, just as he had not done so when, out of the blue, in early summer 2025, US supplies to Ukraine were halted for ten days, without warning, but naturally with enormous consequences – just like the intermittent Starlink service and the denied Patriot systems (though until a month ago, Trump wanted to grant the Ukrainians licences to produce them themselves): the death toll in Ukraine is rising, and with it, Russia’s insatiable terrorist violence.

While the military and financial withdrawal has been offset by European allies, American sabotage proves more complicated to manage, as it is intertwined with the increased danger faced by Ukrainian soldiers on the ground, the suspension of early warnings of Russian missile attacks on cities, and the desire to use dialogue with Russia to rectify the mistakes made in Iran. This is why the Trump Administration downplays Russian violence against Ukrainians, treats Russian aggression as if it were a territorial issue, and ignores the shadow war that Vladimir Putin is waging in Europe as well. The President said at an election rally: “If the Europeans cannot find their own way, we will have no alternative but to abandon them.” Indeed, it must not be overlooked that the abandonment of Ukraine goes hand in hand with that of Europe: America’s allies are now all expendable.