When Trump backed down from defunding Ukraine, he lost. Not it it is his war and they have him trapped.
He thought he could 'Art of the Deal' his way out of that mess. Money always wins the day in his opinion and he thought he could buy Russia off after the neoCons threw a fit when he said he was withholding aid. He caved to Lindsey, and instead of taking the heat right away and ending that shitshow, it now will drag on until they figure out how to escalate it and drag the US into it. That was always the plan, Trump either got played or has been part of that plan all along.