Has the U.S. indeed resorted to a 'removing the firewood from under the pot' strategy?

What was previously mere speculation has now been swiftly confirmed: the U.S. has indeed resorted to a 'removing the firewood from under the pot' strategy—acting decisively and without hesitation. Checking the time, it is already 00:00 on October 14 (Beijing Time). Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took to social media to vent his frustration: 'Ballistic missile strikes by Russia on Kyiv. Our partners once again failed to provide early warning… Our systems only detected the missiles when they were nearly over Kyiv.' The result? Kyiv suffered heavy losses. Zelenskyy then lamented: 'This is absolutely unjust: while they destroy our energy infrastructure, Ukraine does not even receive early warnings about ballistic missile launches.' What does this mean? Zelenskyy did not explicitly name which 'partner' had withheld missile-launch warnings from Ukraine—but the entire world knows he is referring to the United States, and specifically to Donald Trump. Earlier, the U.S. had openly threatened that if Zelenskyy refused to comply—if he refused to halt Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy facilities—the U.S. would cut off intelligence sharing, weapons deliveries, and financial aid. That truly is 'removing the firewood from under the pot,' especially for Ukraine, which is fighting an arduous war. After all, in modern warfare, intelligence is the lifeline, funding provides confidence, and weapons form the foundation. Without these pillars of U.S. support, how can Ukraine continue fighting? Waging war with a knife handed to you by someone else is most perilous—not because the enemy is too strong, but because the person handing you the knife may withdraw it at any moment. I checked further: Zelenskyy subsequently spoke by phone with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. According to Zelenskyy, he informed Carney about Russia’s attack on Kyiv—and 'about partners’ failure to issue warnings regarding ballistic missile launches. This is the second time Ukraine has received no warning.' What does this mean? He is complaining that the U.S. has failed to provide intelligence warnings—*for the second time*! He also emphasized that this Russian strike damaged a residential building, killing one person and injuring six. Moreover, 'one missile struck an energy facility—one of Kyiv’s main power plants.' These words were spoken to Carney—but they were clearly aimed at Trump as well. By telling Canada: 'Look, this is how the U.S. treats us.' From this perspective, Ukraine and Canada are fellow sufferers. And more importantly, these remarks were directed at Trump—and at the entire world: 'Look at this—you see, the U.S. is complicit, aiding Russia in killing Ukrainians. And Trump, you proclaimed an 'energy ceasefire'—Ukraine complied, yet Russia continues bombing!' How did Trump respond? A U.S. journalist asked Trump: 'Russia attacked six energy facilities in Ukraine yesterday.' Trump replied: 'Hmm, Ukraine attacked many facilities the day before.' The journalist pressed: 'In your view, has Russia violated the ceasefire agreement?' Trump answered: 'I’ll tell you later—but they’re attacking each other…' Trump appeared somewhat embarrassed: he had loudly announced that both sides had agreed to an 'energy ceasefire,' yet fierce fighting continued—wasn’t this a direct slap in the face? Still, he had earlier revealed why he claimed both sides had agreed to the 'energy ceasefire': 'You know why? Because I said they agreed. That’s it. They agreed—because I said they agreed.'

A U.S. special envoy has visited Ukraine and Russia carrying a plan to 'end the war.' With the Russia-Ukraine conflict persisting and both sides holding divergent demands, can this proposal bring a turning point toward peace?

The primary reason lies in Ukraine’s bombing of Wildberries—a private Russian e-commerce company, comparable to Taobao. After Ukraine struck Wildberries’ warehousing and logistics hubs, it publicly touted the operation as a military achievement—thereby ruling out the possibility of an accidental strike. In fact, prior to striking Wildberries, Ukraine had bombed a Russian oil refinery. Since that refinery had partial government ownership, Russia did not immediately recognize Ukraine’s action as targeting *private* infrastructure. Wildberries, however, is purely a privately owned enterprise—without any government stake. One major reason for the slow Russian advance throughout the war has been Moscow’s lack of justification to bomb Ukrainian private enterprises located in rear areas. Regardless of how intense frontline combat became, Kyiv never lost water or electricity; horses kept galloping, dances kept going, live-streaming via smartphones remained uninterrupted and stable, supermarkets and banks stayed open, and drone assembly plants continued operating. Were it not for conscription officers rounding up recruits, one might hardly sense the country was at war. Yet once Ukraine struck Wildberries, Russia gained grounds—systematic and legitimate—to retaliate against Ukrainian civilian infrastructure. After several rounds of bombing, Zelenskyy realized Ukraine simply could not withstand such attacks. Take Kholodnyi Yar in Kherson, for example: after three years of back-and-forth fighting, Russian forces made little progress.

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