Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the U.S. – then led by Joe Biden – was one of several countries which provided military, humanitarian, and financial aid to Ukraine in addition to military intelligence.

But much of this hangs in the balance in the wake of the Oval Office meeting, in which President Trump – long noted for his closeness to Russian leader Vladimir Putin – accused Zelensky of not quite being sufficiently grateful for U.S. support, and told him he was “gambling with World War Three.”

Vance followed by asking, “Have you said ‘thank you’ once this entire meeting? No.”

Departing the White House, Zelensky went to meet with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London for a summit there on 2 March to discuss how European nations – alongside Canada – could contribute to Ukraine’s defence during the war.

But questions remain: What this support will look like long term, how these countries might configure themselves around the U.S. if it cuts off support to Ukraine – and how that country might avoid such a consequence.

Making things right with Washington certainly seems to be on Zelensky’s agenda: A few days after his confrontation with Trump and Vance, he used social media platform X to express regret about how things had gone, and underline his commitment to diplomatic engagement around the war.

“Our meeting in Washington… did not go the way it was supposed to be,” he wrote. “It is regrettable it happened this way. It is time to make things right. We would like future cooperation and communication to be constructive.”

Zelensky added Ukraine was “ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer,” stating he’s willing to work under Trump to secure this.

Crucially, he said he was still willing to sign a deal with the United States for the proposed development of Ukrainian critical minerals, which had been on the agenda of his meeting at the White House the previous week.

It is not yet clear whether these overtures would be enough to overturn Trump’s suspension of all aid to Ukraine, nor a more recent announcement that claimed the sharing of military intelligence was also on hold.

The latter was announced by National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and followed by comments from CIA Director John Radcliffe on what Zelensky needed to do to reverse the policy.

Radcliffe claimed Trump “had a real question about whether President Zelensky was committed to the peace process, and he said, ‘Let’s pause, I want to give you a chance to think about that.'”

One of Trump’s major claims amid these tensions is that the United States has taken on an “unfair burden” – compared to European countries in particular – when it comes to providing support to Ukraine.

And if analysis is confined to military spending alone, this is certainly the case.

According to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, a Germany-based research body scrutinising global issues, the U.S. contribution to military aid in the past three years is the equivalent of €64 billion, compared to €62 billion from European donors.

However, the trend is reversed when it comes to financial and humanitarian aid, with European sources allocating €70 billion to the US’ €50 billion. This also means the European contribution is higher overall.

Indeed, in a news report published as recently as February 14, the Kiel Institute argued “European donors have been the main source of aid to Ukraine since 2022, especially when it comes to financial and humanitarian aid.”

Altogether, it estimated Ukraine has received €267 billion of aid in the past three years, amounting to €80 billion a year. Of that, 49% was defined as military aid, 44% was financial support, 7% was humanitarian aid.

The Kiel Institute also suggested Trump’s election would be likely to keep U.S. contributions behind those of Europe after being overtaken by the latter in mid-2023, with European governments under pressure to step up their support initiatives.

Also noted was an increasing trend of collaboration between European nations for the provision of military weaponry, including the U.K.-led International Fund for Ukraine which combines contributions from multiple countries to buy military equipment for Ukraine, with a total allocation of €1.6 billion.

The majority of military aid across all donors had been sourced from existing arsenals, but more recently, weapons came to be sourced direct from industry.

While Trump’s decision to cut off military funding and the provision of intelligence to Ukraine present a significant setback for the eastern European country, it appears several of its other allies are intent on formulating a plan for its defense even beyond a peace deal.

At the March 2 summit – called by Starmer – the leaders of 18 countries, mostly in Europe, developed a four-point plan to reassure Ukraine of their support.

These included a pledge to continue providing military aid to the country, alongside economic pressure on Russia; a call for Ukrainian sovereignty to be recognised in any future peace talks; calls to boost the country’s defence capabilities even after peace was reached, to stave off a possible invasion; and agreement to form a ‘coalition of the willing’ to secure long term peace for Ukraine.

After the summit, which had been called just a week earlier, Starmer underlined the significance of this moment, and the decisions needing to be made, saying: “We are at a crossroads in history.”

While stating in the future, Europe might have to do the heavy lifting when it came to support of Ukraine – something which in the British case could involve “boots on the ground and planes in the air,” he acknowledged any agreement would need support from the U.S. – and has to include Russia.

Additional U.K. support was announced after the summit, comprising a £1.6 billion package of export finance to buy more than 5,000 air defence missiles, which would be built in Belfast.

This will add to an already announced loan of £2.2bn loan for more military aid, which has been backed by profits taken from frozen Russian assets.

With French President Emmanuel Macron, Starmer has also been progressing diplomatic efforts to secure peace, with both leaders separately telephoning Zelensky and Trump to finalise a deal in coming weeks.

No matter what happens next though, it will be a busy, and tense, few weeks ahead.

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US military spending is set to undergo a comprehensive review which aims to reallocate funds from programs deemed lower priority – chiefly those connected to climate change and DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) – seeking reductions of around 8% from the Pentagon’s annual budget over the next 5 years.

The figure given by Acting Deputy Defence Secretary Robert Salesses was $50 billion – to be reallocated during the 2026 fiscal year – which represents around 6% of the $876.8B defense budget anticipated under Joe Biden’s administration.

But across the next 5 years, the initiative – guided by Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth – could involve a funding reallocation of between $250B and $350B, and impact much of the civilian workforce.

The review marks another step in the path that Donald Trump’s administration has been on since its inauguration. In an interview in early February, the President signaled that Musk would be auditing the Pentagon, and would be likely to find ‘fraud and abuse’ at the agency.

In a separate interview with NBC, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz echoed these sentiments, commenting that the Pentagon’s shipbuilding processes in particular were ‘an absolute mess’, and that unnecessary spending was a feature across the board.

More recently, this desire for change has been followed up with the removal of several high-profile military personnel, including Airforce General C. Q Brown – the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff – whose appointment was questioned by Hegseth in his 2024 book, The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free.

In it, he wondered if race might have been a factor in Brown’s elevation to such a prestigious position, saying “Was it because of his skin colour? Or his skill? We’ll never know, but always doubt – which on its face seems unfair to C.Q. But since he has made the race card one of his biggest calling cards, it doesn’t really much matter.”

Also among those fired last week was Admiral Lisa Franchetti, who – as head of the US Navy – was the first woman to lead a military service

But although the budgetary review is likely to usher in significant change in programming at the Pentagon – marking as it does, the most profound assessment of defence spending since the Budget Control Act (BCA) in 2011 – this is not likely to have a negative impact on the United States’ capabilities, according to Research Fellow at UWA Defence and Security Institute Dr Troy Lee-Brown.

Commenting on Waltz’s suggestion that shipbuilding processes could be under the microscope, Dr Lee-Brown said this area of military spending would not be likely to receive cutbacks.

“I was interested in Hegseth’s response to those comments, that he supported DOGE’s efforts to cut costs at the Pentagon, but not to the detriment of US operational and tactical capabilities,” he said.

“In fact, Hegseth believes defence spending should increase so that will be an area to watch.

“A bill was introduced to Congress recently that set out the need to grow the US naval fleet and raised ways in which allied shipbuilders might contribute to shipbuilding.”

Despite the likely profundity of the incoming military review, and the shift to a new US administration, Dr Lee-Brown said he was confident that the country’s $368 billion AUKUS deal with Australia – in which the latter would buy 3 to 5 off-the-shelf Virginia-class boats in the early 2030s – was on-target.

“Phase One or the SRF-West component of AUKUS Pillar One seems to progressing quite well at the operational level,” he said.

“(Defence Minister Richard) Marles’ initial meeting with incoming Sec Def Hegseth was encouraging with regard to phase 2 or the acquisition of 3-5 USN Virginia submarines.

“The politics will remain tricky and lots of work still to be done.”

Trump and Waltz’s earlier comments came only days after Richard Marles’ visit to Washington, where he and Trump met to discuss AUKUS, with Australia announcing it had paid the first of six $797 million payments.

While Hegseth made assurances that the boats would be delivered on time, there remain concerns about the deal, given the apparent difficulty US shipbuilders are having producing even the 2 subs per year required for US procurement.

Dr Lee-Brown said he did not expect any significant changes as part of President Trump’s overall approach to US defence, but added that “The Trump admin will pressure allies to do and spend more on defence.”

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This extension focuses on AI software that uses Dell Technologies to power high-end infrastructure design and dedicated AI appliances for real-time processing – with this underscoring both the company’s partnership with Dell and its achievements with AI technology.

Crucially, Vection argues the product central to this new contract has a proven record of boosting national security through the involvement of AI in increased data enrichment, retention, and correlation.

Managing director Gianmarco Biagi said this development highlighted Vection’s reputation within the defence sector.

“This $4 million extension highlights the confidence our partners have in Vection’s capacity to deliver advanced, AI-driven solutions for national security requirements,” he said.

“As we build upon the original scope with AI and additional XR elements, our team remains dedicated to providing robust, scalable, and compliant technologies that address the evolving challenges of the defence sector.”

At 12:42 AEDT Vection shares were trading at 3.4 cents – a rise of 6.25% since the market opened.

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The order – worth US$5.5M – was secured by PWR’s North American subsidiary C&R Racing Inc., and is scheduled for delivery in 2025, with the order being manufactured at PWR’s Australian and North American sites.

Managing director Kees Weel said the order represented an important milestone for the company, which mainly engages in the production and sale of cooling products.

“This is PWR’s largest single order for Aerospace and Defence since we decided to build our own Aerospace and Defence team in 2020,” he said.

“Our decision to leverage our market-leading advanced cooling technology and expertise from Motorsport into Aerospace and Defence is now delivering tangible results.

“This order validates both our strategy and the investment we have made in building capability in this attractive sector.”

PWH‘s share price moved upwards after the news, and at 16:37 AEDT, shares were trading at $7.62 – a rise of 2.14% since the market opened.

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The company has manufactured full-size 10Ah semi-solid-state cells which deliver an energy density of 498Wh/kg on first discharge from its Phase 3 automated pouch cell production facility.

After formation cycling, the performance rose to 456Wh/kg – an industry leading figure – with the cells continuing to cycle in ongoing testing.

The market responded strongly, and by 14:31 AEDT, shares in LIS were trading at 17 cents – a rise of 41.67% since the market opened.

The crucial nature of this news lies in the fact higher energy density – yielded by these improvements – results in a lighter battery. LIS’ focus on the growing market of drones, defence, and electric aviation means weight is an important factor.

Potential range, payload, and operating time are set to improve based on this data.

CEO of LIS partner V-TOL Aerospace Mark Xavier said the development would be significant for the drone and aerospace industries.

“V-TOL would like to congratulate LIS on this significant milestone achievement that hasexceeded our expectations and initial requirements for our joint development of the Pegasus uncrewed air system,” he said.

“We anticipate cell performance at this level will generate substantial global interest andopportunity for LIS across the drone, aerospace and defence sectors.“

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The defence company in question is a subsidiary of Orion Sovereign Group (OSG Australia), which focuses on integrated facilities management, and is majority veteran owned.

The MOU – which is set to last 2 years – is developed around the companies’ collaborative work on small propulsion engine systems and critical components for next generation UAVs,and will see them share information regarding printing and aerospace technologies.

The information sharing is set to contribute to assessment and improvements in performance, reliability and productivity of parts printed for micro gas turbines – and the companies will also work together on Aurora’s Micro Gas Turbine propulsion system.

Aurora’s expertise in metal 3D printing will be a key contributing factor in the arrangement, which itself marks an important step in progressing the capabilities of sovereign manufacturing technologies within the propulsion sector.

Aurora’s share price – at 11:39 AEDT – was 8.1 cents, a rise of 5.19% since the market opened.

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DroneShield has been working on Ukraine’s side since the country was invaded by Russia in February last year.

The company’s technology has been used to fight drones used for reconnaissance, directing artillery strikes and dropping charges. The conflict has been the first to highlight the potential of drones on the modern day battlefield.

But DroneShield’s deployment in Ukraine is not the only reason it’s hit its straps and secured these contracts with government agencies – the details of which remain secret due to defence sensitivities.

The company also has been recommended by the US military for the rollout of systems across America’s Department of Defence. It’s also been deployed in its first US airport (there are 10,000 airports in the US alone), its DroneGun featured in the recent Brazil Presidential inauguration, and gained numerous $1 million-plus deployments with US, European and other government customers.

DroneShield CEO and Managing Director Oleg Vornik said demand for the company’s counterdrone equipment and software-as-a-service offerings has now become mainstream.

“It’s also about preventing the smuggling of contraband into prisons, stopping cross border drug deliveries, drone disruptions to airports and other critical infrastructure, corporate espionage, domestic terrorism and more,” he said.

“It’s a $10 billion market that we’re tapping into with DroneShield, which provides pure-play exposure to the counterdrone and electronic warfare sectors, at a time when defence and security spending is increasing amidst global geopolitical uncertainties.”

DroneShield owns all its Intellectual Property, it’s operating in about 100 countries, and Mr Vornik says the company’s well placed to service more larger-value orders, many of which represent recurring-revenue opportunities.

“We do not require additional cap ex because the business, by nature, does not require expensive machinery,” he said. “We have developed sophisticated systems that we are now using to put together the hardware and software that we sell.”

“We’ve had record revenues every year since we listed on the ASX in 2016 and we expect another year of exceptional growth.

“Importantly, we expect to reach a profitable cashflow-positive position.”

Late last year DroneShield received a $3.7 million investment from Epirus Inc, a US defence unicorn developing software-defined directed energy systems.