 "Servicemen of the Alkatraz special rifle battalion, former prisoners who volunteered to defend Ukraine, of the 93rd Motorized Brigade take part in a military drills in an undisclosed location in the Donetsk region on February 13, 2025. Image- AFP")
US President Donald Trump’s approach to Ukraine is termed as transactional, devoid of sentiment or ideological commitment by many. Shared values cannot guarantee loans for military aid and the US president is indifferent to who controls the war-torn lands of eastern Ukraine. His priority is not democracy or sovereignty, experts argue, but rather a deal—one that satisfies his own metrics of success, whether by securing rare earth minerals or ending the war on terms favorable to Russia.
His negotiations have side-lined Ukraine, a shift from Washington’s long-standing position that Ukraine’s fate should not be decided without its involvement. By speaking to Putin before Zelenskyy and openly suggesting Ukraine “may be Russian someday,", Trump has upended nearly three years of US policy.
The Kremlin has seized on Trump’s remarks, saying that the situation in Ukraine “largely aligns” with his statements. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, “The fact that a significant part of Ukraine wants to become Russia, and has already, is a fact,” referring to Moscow’s 2022 annexation of four Ukrainian regions.
For Trump, the remaining task is to negotiate a price. “I’m just here to try and get peace,” Trump said in the Oval Office, where he frequently outlines policy. “I don’t care so much about anything other than I want to stop having millions of people killed.”
Impact Shorts
View AllA volte-face on Ukraine policy
A recent call signalled a dramatic shift in US-Russia relations, with indications that Washington might reduce its support for Ukraine after nearly three years of war. Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that he and Putin had “agreed to work together, very closely,” expressing confidence that talks would be “successful” and vowing that “no more lives should be lost!” He also mentioned that the two leaders had agreed to visit each other’s countries.
Notably, Trump spoke to Putin before contacting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, suggesting that the US may not prioritise collaboration with Kyiv or the EU in crafting a unified strategy to bring Russia to the negotiating table. This hints at a stark reversal in US support for Ukraine which had long been based on helping the country defend itself though not necessarily win the war. The Biden administration focused on managing the symptoms of Russian aggression but Trump now claims he will provide the cure—an unwelcome one: stop resisting.
America First: Ukraine pays the price?
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, the guiding principle in the Oval Office had been “nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine.” Biden officials consistently stated publicly that Ukraine would decide when it was ready to negotiate.
However, that was before the US election. The shift was not driven by Ukrainian manpower or weapon supplies but by domestic issues like the price of eggs in Pennsylvania. The Biden administration’s biggest betrayal of Ukraine may have been losing the US election effectively ceding Ukraine’s second front to an “America first” approach.
“We’re the thing that’s holding it back, and frankly, we’ll go as long as we have to go, because we’re not going to let the other happen,” Trump said, offering a rare glimmer of hope by indicating he wouldn’t allow Ukraine to collapse entirely. “But President Putin wants that peace now, and that’s good, and he didn’t want to have peace with Biden.”
Some Ukrainian and Russian observers might believe the U.S. president has a deeper strategy, such as consolidating Europe to pressure Russia as a united front while lowering oil prices. However, judging by his actions in Gaza or domestically, there is likely no grand plan.
By assigning Steve Witkoff, his trusted dealmaker who negotiated the Gaza ceasefire-for-hostages deal, rather than the hawkish Gen. Keith Kellogg, Trump signals that the process will be ruthlessly pragmatic—just another real estate deal.
Now, much of Europe is left wondering whether Trump is about to present them with a fait accompli on their eastern flank, potentially committing European troops to Ukraine without NATO protection under a security agreement negotiated solely between Moscow and Washington.
‘Senile insanity’: Trump’s Ukraine remark sparks outrage
Kyiv was gripped by distrust and disappointment Thursday as US President Donald Trump and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth dashed Ukraine’s hopes for a favourable peace deal with Russia.
With no NATO membership, no US security guarantees, and no promise of reclaiming occupied territories, Ukrainian officials were left frustrated—especially after Trump suggested their country “may be Russian someday.”
“It is some kind of senile insanity,” Kyiv resident Daniil told AFP.
“He just wants to stand out somehow,” he added, suggesting Trump was attempting a different approach to previous mediators on ending the war.
Others questioned the US leader’s grasp of the conflict.
“Trump does not know at all what Russia and Ukraine are, and the relationship between Russians and Ukrainians,” said Sergiy Prokofiev, another resident of the capital.
“His assistants… probably present to him some not-very-true opinion about our situation.”
Nordics back Ukraine’s sovereignty
Leaders of the Nordic and Baltic countries said Friday that Europe and Ukraine had to be part of negotiations as concern mounts that Washington and Moscow could try to settle the Ukraine war between themselves.
In a joint statement, leaders of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden said their countries stood “fully and firmly behind Ukraine”.
The statement came just days after US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin held watershed talks that have shaken Ukraine and America’s NATO allies.
“Ukraine and Europe must be involved in any negotiations to achieve just and lasting peace,” the Nordic-Baltic statement said, noting that “the outcome of the war will have fundamental and long-lasting effects on European and transatlantic security.”
Ukraine and NATO membership
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told Zelenskyy Friday that Ukraine must be allowed to join NATO.
Both Trump and U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth this week undercut Ukraine’s hopes of joining, a process that the alliance said was “irreversible” less than a year ago, or of recovering its territory captured by Russia, which currently occupies close to 20% including Crimea.
“I don’t see any way that a country in Russia’s position could allow … them to join NATO,” Trump said Thursday. “I don’t see that happening.”
Trump’s musings have left Europeans wondering how — or even if — they can maintain the post-WWII security that NATO afforded them, or fill the gap in the billions of dollars of security assistance that the Democratic Biden administration provided to Ukraine since Russia’s February 2022 invasion.
Vance, Marco Rubio to meet Zelenskyy in Munich
Vice President JD Vance is appearing at the Munich Security Conference at a time of intense concern and uncertainty over the Trump administration’s foreign policy.
The future of Ukraine is top on the agenda following President Donald Trump’s lengthy phone call with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, when they pledged to work together to end the 3-year-old Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Vance is expected to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy later Friday for talks that many observers, particularly in Europe, hope will shed at least some light on Trump’s ideas for a negotiated settlement to the war.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio was supposed to join Vance in the U.S. meeting with Zelenskyy Friday but was delayed when his Air Force plane had to return to Washington after developing a mechanical problem en route to Munich.
With inputs from agencies