Leaders of Ukraine’s international allies on Monday marked 35 years since the country broke away from the Soviet Union to become an independent nation.
The U.K.’s Andy Burnham flew in, while France’s Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Friedrich Merz joined a call to reaffirm commitments to Kyiv.
But senior officials from one longtime backer were notably absent from the public show of support: the United States.
While U.S. senators and former officials visited Ukraine ahead of the commemorations, the apparent lack of senior Trump administration participation was the latest sign of how Washington has backed off during a critical juncture for Ukraine.
The message sent was especially pointed as Monday also marks 4 1/2 years since President Vladimir Putin launched his large-scale invasion of Russia’s much smaller neighbor.
Negotiations to reach a peace deal, which President Donald Trump once promised to achieve within 24 hours, have stalled as supplies of U.S. air defense missiles dwindle and the Russian leader ramps up threats to Ukraine’s allies.
Britain’s Burnham was the highest-profile Western leader to fly in and co-chair a meeting of the “Coalition of the Willing,” a group of countries backing Ukraine.
European Council President António Costa, as well as the heads of nearly a dozen European nations, was also in Kyiv, despite the country’s air force reporting Russian rocket and drone strikes overnight.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio congratulated Ukraine in a statement.
“The United States is committed to Ukraine’s sovereignty and continues to work to support a negotiated settlement to the Russia-Ukraine war that establishes a lasting and durable peace,” it said.
Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha thanked Rubio for “thoughtful” greetings, adding, “We will be glad to welcome you in Kyiv.”
Over the weekend, Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and James Lankford, R-Okla., met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and Blumenthal attended a ceremony Monday. Former Vice President Mike Pence and ex-special envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg were also in Kyiv for meetings.
Kellogg was considered “too close to Ukraine” by Russian negotiators before he stepped down in December, NBC News reported last year.
The State Department and White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on why senior officials did not attend the anniversary events.
The United States was once Ukraine’s most important supporter, providing billions of dollars in military aid and sharing critical intelligence. But since Trump returned to the Oval Office in early 2025, significant new aid has ceased, with the U.S. selling weapons to Ukraine’s NATO partners to be transferred to Kyiv instead.
An analysis of how American aid flows have changed by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonpartisan U.S. think tank, showed that as of March this year, Congress has made available $195 billion in spending related to the war in Ukraine. Of the $195 billion, $164 billion came from five pieces of legislation, the last of which was passed in April 2024, according to the report.
U.K. and French support
In recent days, the U.K. and France announced they would share critical military technology to help Ukraine defend itself.
Britain has agreed to allow European missile manufacturer MBDA to release classified information on British-made components used in the SCALP long-range cruise missile.
With the information from the U.K., Ukraine will be able to establish local assembly lines to produce the missile, which shares British and French technology, according to Downing Street. Zelenskyy also said this weekend that France’s Macron has agreed to accelerate the delivery of the latest French equipment and missiles.
The European Commission also approved a further $7.1 billion in financial aid for Ukraine on Monday to procure new defense systems, such as air defense, missiles, ammunition and radars.
With Moscow firing larger volleys of high-speed rockets at Ukraine’s cities, the country is staring down a long and perilous winter as it runs out of critically important interceptors capable of taking down Russian ballistic missiles.
Zelenskyy has pleaded with the U.S., the main maker of the interceptors for the Patriot missile air defense systems, to send Kyiv more, but the Iran war has depleted supplies and left Washington rationing remaining stock.
A severe shortage of interceptors combined with a harsh winter and Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy grid could force Kyiv to come to the negotiating table under unfavorable terms.
This is not the message that Zelenskyy sought to transmit, however.
“Ukraine absolutely wants peace, but it is not ready to simply surrender,” he said in a defiant speech Monday.
