On September 23, 2025, a meeting during the United Nations General Assembly sparked international shock, and U.S. President Donald Trump, after meeting with Ukrainian President Zelensky, suddenly announced on social media that "Ukraine can take back all its territory with the support of the EU and NATO and restore the border before the war".
This statement was a 180-degree reversal to its previous position that “Ukraine needs to accept the status quo” and Leninsky was frankly “surprised”, while at the same time, the global database of weapons parts released by the hackers revealed a more intriguing truth.
Among Russia's active missiles, 67% of key electronic components come from American companies, with products from Texas Instruments, Intel and other companies accounting for the highest proportion. The intertwining of this reversal of positions and the chain of military interests is pushing the Russia-Ukraine conflict into a more complex game field.
Trump’s “trade diplomacy”
Trump's position mutation is not coincidental, since the Alaska "Trap" in August 2025 ended without success, its "trade-style diplomacy" suffered reversal, Putin in the territorial issue is relentless, and European allies because of being marginalized, turned by sending troops to Ukraine, increasing troops in Eastern Europe and other ways.
The Trump administration has found that pressuring Ukraine to make concessions alone cannot quickly end the conflict. Instead, it may turn Europe to independent defense and weaken the United States' control over NATO.
At this time, the interests of the U.S. military-industrial complex have become a key variable. Data for 2023 shows that overseas sales of U.S. arms dealers have surged by 49%, of which 63% have flowed to Europe.
Trump openly acknowledged that “money comes from NATO and we make money from selling weapons,” this logic of seeing war as a business explains the root of its repeated positions.
When "friendliness with Russia" cannot bring economic benefits, the shift to "tough Ukraine" can both favor European allies and maintain arms orders, why not?
What's even more intriguing is that while encouraging Ukraine to "act immediately", Trump still emphasized that "the United States will continue to provide weapons to NATO".
This “two-line operation” exposes its core strategy of consuming Russian forces by prolonging the conflict, while letting Europe bear the main cost of the war, while the United States equates arms profits and geo-dividends.
US parts support Russian missiles
When NATO experts dismantled the wreckage of Russian missiles on the battlefield in Ukraine, the scene before them was shocking. The guidance system of the Kh-101 cruise missile was embedded with the control module of Texas Instruments, the circuit board of the 9M727 missile was printed with Intel's logo, and even the sensors of the "Dagger" hypersonic missile came from Xilinx.
According to a report by the Royal Joint Service Institute (RUSI), more than 450 key components of 27 Russian advanced weapons come from 15 countries around the world, with U.S. companies accounting for 67 percent, Japan and Germany accounting for 7 percent.
These parts flowed into Russia through a complex gray supply chain, exporters marked the chip as a "washing machine controller", after the transition into "industrial thermometer" in Kazakhstan, in 2024, Kazakhstan's exports of electronic components to Russia increased by 320%, while washing machine sales did not grow in the same period.
At the same time, the Russian side also through platforms such as eBay, in the name of "radio enthusiasts" scattered procurement of parts such as spirals, making these small packages resemble charging treasures, easy to escape customs inspection.
As for the international trend of concern, Texas Instruments claimed that the chips were sold to distributors in Dubai, while Bosch said that the products were sold to wheelchair factories in Turkey. These multinational companies became a key link in the supply chain, but they evaded responsibility on the grounds of "ignorance".
Take the Kh-101 missile as an example. Among the 31 foreign parts assembled internally, American technology dominates, the control module of Texas Instruments ensures precise guidance, the Intel processor acts as the "brain", and the components of Analog Device Company process signals.
Image sensors from Japan's Sony and Toshiba are used for optical guidance, while communication modules from Germany's Infineon and digital processors from Bosch enhance the missile's coordinated combat capabilities.
This "mini United Nations"-style combination of parts and components allows Russian missiles to achieve output growth despite sanctions. In the first half of 2025, the production of "Dagger" hypersonic missiles surged by 110% year-on-year.
The US sanctions paradox
The loopholes in U.S. sanctions against Russia are essentially the contradiction between the military interest chain and political decision-making. After the Crimean crisis in 2014, the United States included more than 80 kinds of Western-made microchips in export controls, but daily home appliance parts were not restricted.
Russia, through third-country transportation centers and secret networks, uses chips from microwave ovens, washing machines and other civilian products for military use, for example, many parts are transferred to Russia through Hong Kong, so Hong Kong has become the "gateway" for electronic products to enter the Russian military.
This mode of operation forms a strange cycle. Ukraine attacks the Russian army with "Javelin" missiles provided by the United States, while the Russian army counterattacks with "Kalibr" missiles containing American chips. NATO experts use American technology to analyze Russian weapons, but find that their core components are the same. From the United States.
The “compliance” operation of U.S. companies is even more ironic, with Texas Instruments saying that its chips are “designed for commercial products”, but the fact that these commercial products eventually flow into the Russian military missiles is undisclosed.
Behind the layoffs of 2000 people at Microsoft's joint venture company Minimally in China are the precise calculations of the technology giant in the global supply chain, not only complying with superficial regulations, but also maintaining interests through gray channels.
Now Trump's reversal of position and the operation of the U.S. military industry interest chain reveal the deep logic of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The United States achieves a "menacing" balance by simultaneously selling arms to both warring parties.
For Ukraine, the United States provides Javelin missiles and Haimas rocket launchers to give it continuous combat capabilities. For Russia, the United States delivers key parts through gray supply chains to avoid the collapse of its military-industrial system.
This strategy not only prolonged the conflict, but also allowed Europe to continuously increase military spending, ultimately creating lasting demand for U.S. arms dealers. Data shows that Russian missile production will only drop by 10% in 2023, far lower than Western expectations.
This is due to the continued supply of American parts, with Texas Instruments alone providing the Russian army with hundreds of guided chips, while Ukraine’s trouble lies in the fact that for every US$100 million it receives, Russia can get equal profits through arms transactions, forming a “interest hedge in the war of consumption.”
The game is reshaping the global military-industrial chain, the U.S. Department of Defense is implementing a “trusted supply chain plan” and the EU is stepping up export censorship, but experts point out that as long as demand exists, the gray channel will be difficult to completely cut.
China’s position in this process is crucial, strictly complying with the rules of international trade, all exported civilian chips and drones need to provide end-user proof, and the customs system automatically intercepts suspicious transactions, this responsible attitude is in sharp contrast to the U.S. “tactical face shift”.
In September 2025, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs criticized the US "secondary tariffs" as an act of unilateral bullying. At the same time, it proposed a number of peace initiatives, calling on all parties to find political solutions based on full consideration of strategic demands.
Unlike the U.S. viewing war as a business, what China really wants to see is the degradation of conflict and the resumption of peace negotiations, a principle and stability that is gaining more trust in the international community.
conclusion
Trump's shift in position and the reality of the flow of American components into Russian military equipment together constitute a special picture in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the former reflects the oscillation of U.S. domestic politics and foreign strategy, the latter reveals the deep contradiction of the global power pattern and the structure of the industrial chain.
For Ukraine, although Trump's statement has brought short-term encouragement, it lacks support from practical aid commitments. For Russia, the continued supply of U.S. parts and components has alleviated its urgent needs for equipment production, but it has also exposed the shortcomings of local high-end manufacturing capabilities.
For the United States, the problem of balancing sanctions and interests will continue to test the consistency and effectiveness of its policies. This complex contest of political games and economic interests will undoubtedly affect the direction of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and even the world. The supply chain pattern has a profound impact.
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The source:
Russian military equipment including American components investigation report — UN Security Council website —
https://main.un.org/securitycouncil/content/report-us-components-russian-military-equipment"Declaring that Russia's economic difficulties are" paper tigers "and encouraging Ukraine to retake" all land ", Trump's position on Russia and Ukraine has changed significantly?"-Global Times-
https://hqtime.huanqiu.com/share/article/4OSeSX8FXXKVideo: "#China helps Russia's defense industry?# Ministry of Foreign Affairs: How to explain that most of the Western parts in Russia's weapons come from the United States? Who is the biggest source of chaos for global peace and stability? The international community can see it clearly "-The Paper News--
https://v.douyin.com/PbvbYUCx0W4/