Russia’s most vicious attack on Kyiv in over a year was timed just hours after US President Donald Trump’s latest outburst against Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky. Right in the middle of talks about peace Zelensky is being bombarded with insults from Trump whilst his people are being killed on the frontline and in his capital’s streets.
Trump had accused Zelensky of main ‘very harmful’ statements towards ‘peace negotiations; about not ceding territory to Russia in a furious rant about the wartime President. It came shortly after his Vice President JD Vance said during a trip to India that both sides have to give up territory in any peace settlement.
And as America pivots away from Europe and Trump continues not to criticise Putin and frequently blame Zelensky, the Kyiv leader is in an increasingly tight spot. He has stated categorically that Ukraine will not give up territory, whilst Putin and team Trump insist he must do so in order to strike a peace deal and stop the killing.
The White House’s twisted perspective, or at least the one it wants America to believe, is that Zelensky is somehow to blame for the killing perpetuated by Putin. An increase in violence between two warring sides, as we have seen frequently between Israel and Hamas and its allies, often precedes peace talks as each tries to gain leverage.
So this latest atrocity could be an indication that Putin, emboldened by Trump’s fawning, now believes he is close to forcing Ukraine to give up territory in exchange for peace. Obviously this is with the once unimaginable but now tacit support of the White House which will probably pile more pressure on Zelensky to agree to unfavourable terms. Trump seems to want to make Russia great again out of the ashes of this war.
Quite how the Ukrainian leader avoids these Trump-Putin terms and keeps the US on board is very hard to imagine but he has immense support from his aides who will be trying to work out a plan. As we have seen many times in this war, bold and focused Ukrainian ingenuity often saves the day and wins over blundering brute force and thuggery, which is what we are witnessing now.
Trump’s deluded world view, such as it is, will continue to be based entirely upon how the world affects him and he has put ludicrous faith in a so-called personal relationship with Putin. Perhaps he actually believes that because he has met Putin the Russian leader can now be trusted and will stick to any deal on Ukraine that he agrees to.
That would first require Zelensky to make a complete U-turn, which for the moment seems highly unlikely, and for there to be an American non-military presence in Ukraine. There is a feeling in some diplomatic circles that if Ukraine agrees to cede territory and Putin is given his off-ramp to end the war, claiming some victory, peace could happen.
And that this would only be a lasting peace benefiting Ukraine if American investors flooded into the country, boosting its post-war economy inside new, albeit uncomfortable borders. It would likely be accompanied by a loosening of US sanctions on Russia and, though its a horrible thought, many of the war-crimes probes, including murder, rape and torture, slowly going away.
Although possibly a practical end to war in Europe it is a deeply uncomfortable possibility, allowing Putin and his thugs to get away with it. And, aside from Putin and those who raped, tortured and murdered their way through the invasion, the blame for that injustice in the history books should fall on Trump and his fawning towards the Russian despot.
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