“This is certainly a positive development, but far too late,” he said.

According to Umland, the main question remains whether the U.S. would be able to repeat a similar act next year or whether this aid signifies its last major military assistance to Kyiv.

“For me the main question will be what this voting yesterday in the U.S. House of Representatives means for the future of U.S. aid for Ukraine, whether this will be still possible to repeat next year under perhaps a new president, in different circumstances.”

Umland said that in the event that the U.S. halts further aid supplies to Ukraine, then the European Union and other countries such as Britain would have to fill in the vacuum.

“But this is all of course very speculative,” he clarified, adding that he personally believes that U.S. military support to Ukraine will continue next year. However, he said that one cannot speak about this with absolute certainty, so Europe should prepare itself for the worst scenario.

He said that the main concern is not whether the EU leaders have the political willingness to provide military aid to Kyiv, but whether Europe has the industrial capacity to do so.