Ukraine Is DEFENSELESS

Trump just let Putin off the hook on sanctions, but got an American prisoner back in return. Meanwhile, Ukraine's drones are dropping out of the sky. What the hell is going on? Welcome to America Uncovered, I'm Chris Chappell. Did you hear the news? Trump is selling out Ukraine to Putin! Ah, the Trump is a Russian puppet line. Nothing new under the sun. According to the administration, Trump isn't abandoning Ukraine so much as adjusting the US's position, at least on a temporary basis. I know we're used to a lot of broad, sweeping statements from Trump. This is the best deal in the history of deals. This deal is frankly the worst deal in history. This guy's an idiot. This guy's a genius. This guy has a great ass. But I looked at his ass. I said his ass is like, it's like a pile of muscle. But even Trump isn't above playing a little realpolitik from time to time. So, a quick recap from an episode we did last week. As you know, fuel prices are way up, thanks in large part to the war in Iran. This is especially true of diesel, which has the knock-on effect of driving up prices for everything, think groceries. So to bring prices down before the midterms, Trump cut a deal with Putin to let Russia sell diesel to the US. That's 300,000 tons right away, 500,000 more in November, and a million tons after that. Which isn't honestly all that much. But now he's gone a step further. Back in September, Congress passed the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026. It's a bit of a mouthful to say, but to put it simply, it's meant to put a massive squeeze on Russia's war economy. tariffs of up to 500% on Russian goods, sanctions on foreign banks that help Russia dodge sanctions, the works. Trump signed that bill into law. But last Friday, two days before it was supposed to go into effect, he signed an executive order shelving it. Specifically, I'm hereby waiving the application of sanctions, restrictions, and duties. To be clear, this doesn't wipe out all the sanctions on Russia. Everything that was in place before the Graham Act is still in place. It's just the new sanctions getting put on the back burner. Moscow, as you'd expect, was thrilled. Putin's economic envoy called it an important and truly historic moment. Zelensky, on the other hand, was less than thrilled. He didn't even say thank you. He warned that sanctions relief will continue. I think the diesel deal and the move regarding the Lindsey Graham Act are not the end of it, unfortunately. The news also stirred up some controversy within the GOP itself. Mitch McConnell, Tom Tillis, Susan Collins, and outgoing Senator John Cornyn urged Trump to scrap the diesel deal and enforce the sanctions. And Trump waiving the new sanctions from the Graham Act just added fuel to the fire. Yes, pun intended. Cornyn wrote on X that Lindsey would be appalled. But Lindsey Graham is dead and Congress is in recess until after the election, so there's not much they can really do about it right now. Now, these deals already had the Russia hawks worried. But around the same time, something strange started happening. Starting around October 14, Ukraine noticed its Starlink connections were suddenly cutting out. As you probably already know, Starlink is Elon Musk's brand of satellite-based internet. You set up a small dish, it talks to satellites flying overhead, and you're online. There's no need for cell towers, no need for cables. And that matters in a war zone where those are usually the first things to get blown up. I'll point out that there's actually two versions of this service. There's regular Starlink, which pretty much anyone can buy. And then there's Starshield. It uses many of the same satellites, but it's a service developed specifically for government and military use. Ukraine uses these connections for almost everything. Talking to troops, sharing maps, and importantly, flying drones. Basically, you strap a small satellite terminal to the drone, and that lets it communicate with satellites as well as operators on the ground. And that's where the problems started. Ukrainian troops noticed that any terminal moving faster than about 100 miles an hour lost its connection. Below 100, it's much more stable. But above 100, the signal drops, the pilot can lose control, and the drone is gone. Ukraine wanted to know if this was just a glitch. So they put terminals in cars, drove them into EU countries, and floored it on the highway. At over 110 miles an hour, the connection held just fine. Zelenskyy concluded that Ukraine's connection problem was a planned operation. Alright, so who's responsible? Well, we're not sure. Elon Musk says it was the military version, Starshield, that got throttled. And since the government controls that, any limits would be decided by the US military and, ultimately, the president. But Trump says the White House had nothing to do with it. However, reporters have been digging. And Reuters, citing two US sources and another Western official, reported that the order came from inside the White House. But then, just two days ago, the Wall Street Journal dropped its own report that says Elon Musk was the one who ordered the slowdown. So which is it? The White House or Musk? Well, the two reports aren't necessarily contradictory. It may have been Musk's call with the nod from the White House. But Starlink isn't the only thing going dark. Normally, US satellites spot Russian ballistic missiles the moment they launch, and Ukraine gets a heads up so people can get to shelters and air defenses can get ready. But last week, multiple sources told CBS the US may have intentionally withheld early warnings. Zelensky says it happened multiple times. After the latest attack on Kiev, he wrote that once again there was no early warning from our partners. The administration insists it never stopped sharing intelligence. But Zelensky says US officials had warned him that if you will not stop the energy strikes, we will block intelligence. And then there are the Patriot missiles, the air defense system Ukraine uses to shoot down Russian ballistic missiles. Zelensky told US lawmakers on Monday that we have almost no Patriot interceptors left from the United States' batch. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says America's policy towards Ukraine hasn't changed. But he noted that US forces need interceptors too. And since the war with Iran is still dragging on, those are in short supply. But you can see the pattern. Starlink, the early warnings, the Patriot missiles. Every one of these squeezes is happening right as the White House is pushing Ukraine to stop attacking Russian oil refineries, which Trump blames for pushing up fuel prices back home. Right before the midterms. And if we're being honest, this is a space where the US can really throw its weight around, regardless of what you think of it. Since Trump took office, USAID to Ukraine has basically stalled. And Europe has picked up the tab. But Europe can't replace everything. It continues to depend on access to US weapons systems. And above all, it can't replace American intelligence. For years, US satellites and spy planes have been Ukraine's eyes. They show where Russian troops are massing. We've seen what happens when that gets switched off. In March of last year, Trump paused intelligence sharing for about a week. And right as it went dark, Ukraine's foothold in Russia's Kursk region collapsed. Europe can pay the bills, but America can really see the battlefield better than anyone else. That's the sort of leverage Trump has. So where does that leave us? Well, it looks like a deal might be taking shape. On Tuesday, Zelensky met Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff in Oslo, with Jared Kushner joining by video. The US official said the two sides now have strong alignment on the working level. Zelensky also says the early intelligence warnings are back, and he expects results on Starlink soon. And yesterday, Witkoff held a meeting with Putin in St. Petersburg, where he secured the release of a U.S. citizen, Stephen Hubbard, a show of good faith on the part of Moscow. So to recap, let's just look at what everybody wants out of these negotiations. Trump needs fuel prices down, since the midterms are less than two weeks away. Zelensky needs satellites and air defense, which is what's allowed Ukraine to hold off an enemy several times its size. And Putin needs relief. The Iran War gave Russia an oil windfall, but its economy is still sputtering under the cost of the war. It's a delicate balancing act. Politics is always a series of compromises and temporary arrangements. This is especially true in the case of international relations. America has found itself in the same position as Victorian Britain, a massive superpower having to navigate not only conflicts abroad, but also a domestic political scene that's fluid, and where the people can actually vote you out of power. As a result, nothing is ever set in stone. Today's enemy could be tomorrow's friend. As Lord Palmerston told the British Parliament back in 1848, we have no eternal allies and we have no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual. And those interests, it is our duty to follow. But what do you think? Leave your comments below. I do read as many as I can, But I read every comment on AmericaUncovered.tv, where you'll get access to thousands of episodes ad-free, plus a community chat, live streams, and more. Just click this button here or the link below. Once again, I'm Chris Chappell. Thank you for watching America Uncovered.