He says American intelligence is crucial to Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against ballistic missiles.
The Ukrainians have managed to shoot down a high percentage of the less advanced drones, but ballistic missiles are very difficult, says Hallenberg, professor emeritus of political science at the Swedish National Defence University.
And if they don’t have any prior information, then it’s almost impossible.
Lost capacity
At the same time, there are reports that Ukrainian drones have lost some of their capabilities after restrictions were imposed on the country’s Starlink communication terminals.
Jan Hallenberg says tech billionaire Elon Musk, who owns Starlink, is probably collaborating with the Pentagon.
The drones that do make their way forward cannot move at the same speed as before and become less effective against the Russians.
Hallenberg believes these are clear signals to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that attacks on Russian oil facilities should stop immediately.
You can attack whatever else you want, but not these oil terminals and refineries, says Hallenberg.
But it is the strongest weapon that the Ukrainians have.
Putting pressure
Defence expert Johan Huovinen believes that the possible withholding of intelligence and the loss of Starlink capacity could be a tactic to bring about negotiations.
– The purpose could well be to put pressure on what the White House perceives as these unreasonable Ukrainians.
Similarly, the US diesel deal with Russia and the White House’s failure to activate the major sanctions package could be a way to put pressure on Russia.
Is this the start of an attempt to pressure the Ukrainians and Russians to come to the negotiating table? says Johan Huovinen.