Key Points – President Trump’s May 28th declaration that he will know in “about two weeks” if Vladimir Putin is serious about ending the Ukraine war is likely a delay tactic, not a genuine ultimatum.
Having claimed he would end the war quickly, Trump now faces a dilemma: confronting Putin, whom he admires, would contradict his own leanings, while abandoning Ukraine would appear weak.
This “deadline” is interpreted as a way for Trump to avoid making a difficult strategic decision, hoping events will either allow him to claim credit for peace or provide an excuse if Russia continues its aggression.
Donald Trump’s Strange Ukraine Strategy
When asked at a May 28 press conference whether he thinks Vladimir Putin wants to end his war against Ukraine, Donald Trump said, “I’ll let you know in about two weeks. Within two weeks. We’re gonna find out whether or not he is tapping us along or not. And if he is, we’ll respond a little bit differently.”
Is Trump serious this time or is he just playing for time?
His track record with respect to Russia’s illegitimate president suggests that he’s not serious.
Trump has vowed to teach Putin a lesson on many an occasion, but with no tangible results.
Not only has Putin blithely ignored Trump’s bark and gone about merrily killing Ukrainian civilians, but Trump has never followed up on his bark with a bite.
Quite the contrary, one gets the impression that, the more outrageously criminal Putin’s actions are, the more willing is Trump to look the other way and blame Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky for whatever happens to peeve him at the moment.
This time could be different, but only a fool would take Trump at his word and bet the house on his getting tough with the Russian fascist dictator.
What Is Trump Planning on Ukraine?
So, if Trump is just playing for time, why? What does he hope to achieve?
Well, the obvious answer is: time.
Trump is caught between a rock and a hard place of his own making. When he boldly claimed several months ago that he would end the war in 24 hours, Trump effectively claimed ownership of the conflict.
Regardless of his denials or those of his minions, Biden’s war has become Trump’s war.
And everybody, including Trump, knows it: hence his feverish denials of ownership and his infantile threats to leave the negotiating table.
Trump appears to have learned that ending the war will require far more of a commitment than he was initially willing to make.
But just what should he do? To cut and run will be seen as an act of cowardice and a symptom of weakness—which doesn’t sit well with his self-image as God’s gift to humanity.
But to turn toward Ukraine and against Russia means going against his firm belief that Putin is his pal, idol, and role model. For the bottom line is that Trump admires Putin: indeed, he wants to be just like the Russian: omnipotent and infallible and beloved.
To go against Putin is, thus, to go against oneself and the authoritarian project that is being vigorously pursued in the United States.
The Deadline…
The two-week “deadline” is nothing more than an expression of Trump’s hope that he won’t have to make a painful decision. If, miraculously, Putin opts for peace, then Trump will claim the credit. If, more likely, Putin continues to murder Ukrainians, he will have given Trump a way out of his dilemma.
Trump can then claim to have done his best to bring peace, but, darn it, his erstwhile pal Putin just didn’t agree.
And then there’s the least unlikely outcome: Trump will give Putin another two weeks or two months…
About the Author: Dr. Alexander Motyl
Dr. Alexander Motyl is a professor of political science at Rutgers-Newark. A specialist on Ukraine, Russia, and the USSR, and on nationalism, revolutions, empires, and theory, he is the author of 10 books of nonfiction, including Pidsumky imperii (2009); Puti imperii (2004); Imperial Ends: The Decay, Collapse, and Revival of Empires (2001); Revolutions, Nations, Empires: Conceptual Limits and Theoretical Possibilities (1999); Dilemmas of Independence: Ukraine after Totalitarianism (1993); and The Turn to the Right: The Ideological Origins and Development of Ukrainian Nationalism, 1919–1929 (1980); the editor of 15 volumes, including The Encyclopedia of Nationalism (2000) and The Holodomor Reader (2012); and a contributor of dozens of articles to academic and policy journals, newspaper op-ed pages, and magazines. He also has a weekly blog, “Ukraine’s Orange Blues.”
Fighter Jet Fails
Russia’s Su-57 Felon Stealth Fighter Is a Waste of Rubles
Taco
May 29, 2025 at 10:40 pm
(Taco = trump always chickens out.)
Trump has been a maverick in public life, and on ukraine, same thing. And he prefers his walking to be done on a very oily surface.
Trump himself doesn’t know What he wants on ukraine or What actually MUST be done.
In ukraine, the problem boils down to one thing. Just one thing.
Nazis cannot cohabit with non-nazis. Can’t live together.
So, the world needs to separate the nazis and the non-nazis and put them in different places.
Ukraine MUST be divided into two; western ukraine for the nazis and eastern ukraine for the non-nazis.
In western ukraine, they can worship herr aloizovich and put up his statues all over the place and display his symbols and SS insignia.
In eastern ukraine, the people can freely speak russian, celebrate russian culture and worship russian ideals.
All done in peace. But does TRUMP even know this. He’s getting OLD. Old as the hills.
pagar
May 29, 2025 at 11:17 pm
Donald trump has been swinging left and right, and then right and left and doing it (the swinging routine) repeatedly.
That’s not called statesmanship.
What trump MUST do now is refuse to follow the advice of his handlers, especially keith kellogg, on ukraine.
During his first term, trump listened to them and supplied ukros with deadly weapons, a practice continued by biden.
Now, he MUST correct his mistakes which have led to many many deathss, and divide ukraine into two, like berlin after the fall of hitler.
Berlin was divided into west berlin and east berlin in 1945 until the end of the cold war.
But now there’s a hot war in ukraine, and trump must do something tangible. Something lasting that lasts until arrival of judgement day.