Retired CIA officer Marc Polymeropoulos responded to a recent assertion that President Donald Trump has made a U-turn on Ukraine as Russia continues to attack.

Outgoing Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) this week complained from the Senate floor that Ukraine still has not received the $400 million appropriation Congress approved in 2025.

"I asked Secretary Hegseth why the Pentagon is taking so long to send this critical aid to Ukraine. He didn't have a good answer," Durbin said. "President Trump needs to send $400 million in funds immediately. They're desperately needed in Ukraine to stop Russian advances. Doing so will help bring President [Vladimir] Putin to the negotiating table. Secretary Hegseth also needs to move $200 million that we appropriated and president signed into law for the Baltic Security Initiative to help frontline NATO allies prepare for Russian intimidation and retaliation."

Polymeropoulos said he is skeptical that Trump has truly changed his position on support for Ukraine, noting that support claims are only meaningful if they are reflected in actual policy moves. The only thing that will convince him is "substance," he said, "not just vibes."

"Where is the 400 million?" he asked of those cheering Trump’s alleged pivot.

Reports this week said Russia has sold off half of its gold reserves, according to Radosław Sikorski, Poland’s foreign minister. Tymofiy Mylovanov, president of the Kyiv School of Economics and Ukraine’s minister of economy, translated a recent interview with Sikorski and quoted the Polish leader as saying that Moscow has sold 44 tons of gold.

"It’s a sign Moscow is running low on resources. This winter may be Putin's last chance to break Ukraine, so Europe's help decides if Ukraine wins," Sikorski said.

He said he did not see Trump stepping in at the last minute to win the war for Ukraine.

Secretary Marco Rubio’s call with [Russian Foreign Minister Sergey] Lavrov lasted 37 minutes, Sikorski said. "I don't see grounds to expect a breakthrough from that. Real progress needs Putin himself to lower his ambitions about conquering Ukraine, and I don't believe that's happening," he said.

"Russia keeps testing NATO's response threshold with provocations like drones crossing into member states' territory. Naming these as deliberate tests actually lowers the odds Moscow repeats them, since a provocation everyone expects can't deliver its shock," he added.

Poland, he said, is ready to add "our own newest Patriot-class interceptor technology" to the fight, since U.S. support is up in the air.