The Economist.
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Never in the field of human conflict was so much risked by one man for so little.
Donald Trump is threatening to cripple Ukraine in his fight for survival and to expose Europe to Russian aggression,
seemingly for the pitiful prize of minimising his losses in next month's midterm elections.
The hard question is what Ukraine and its allies should do.
On October 9th, Mr Trump said he and Vladimir Putin had agreed
that Russia will export 2.2 million barrels of diesel, with the promise of more later.
Mr. Trump declared an energy ceasefire that Russia will not observe.
His officials demanded that Ukraine should stop targeting Russian refineries, suggesting
that America would withhold intelligence and weapons sales if it does not.
On the night of October 13th, a Pentagon-controlled part of the Starlink satellite system
was degraded for fast-moving Ukrainian drones, stopping them hitting hard-to-spot targets in Russian-occupied territory.
All this is terrible for Ukraine, which must choose between losing crucial intelligence and weapons
and carrying out the deep strikes on refineries that are its best answer to continuing Russian attacks on its cities.
It also gives succor to Mr. Putin.
He can make some money and continue illicit oil sales to buyers