Key Points – President Trump’s approach to the Russia-Ukraine war is effectively “letting Russia win,” according to a recent analysis by Maximilian Hess of the Foreign Policy Institute.
-Despite Trump’s campaign promises to end the war quickly and recent criticisms of Putin, his administration has shown a lack of decisive leadership and action.
-Peace talks remain stalled, with Russia maintaining maximalist demands for Ukrainian capitulation, including territorial surrender and neutrality.
-Hess argues that Trump’s vague assurances, unfulfilled promises of a peace plan (“in about two weeks”), and inaction on new sanctions are creating a vacuum that benefits Moscow’s attritional strategy.
‘Trump is Letting Russia Win’ in Ukraine, Argues Foreign Policy Expert
When Donald Trump, throughout the 2024 campaign, promised that he would end the war between Russia and Ukraine quickly, the assumption among many was that he would end it a certain way: By pulling military and rhetorical support from Ukraine, while pushing Ukraine to accept Russia’s terms for ending the war.
After all, Trump has been more pro-Putin and skeptical of NATO than American presidents have typically been in the recent past.
He even, at one point, blamed Ukraine for “starting” the war, which started in 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine.
However, it didn’t turn out exactly that way. Yes, Trump berated the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office, but he has been at times critical of Putin as well.
And if Trump is pushing for the end of the war in the near term, Russia and Putin seem to be inclined to keep on fighting, as indicated by Russia’s maximalist demands in short-lived peace talks earlier this week.
Trump has indicated that he’s losing his patience with efforts to end the war. But according to a new op-ed, Trump’s lack of involvement is itself helping one side in particular.
Helping Russia?
Maximilian Hess, a fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute, wrote an op-ed this week for Al-Jazeera, arguing that “Trump is letting Russia win.”
Even if Trump is calling for peace, Hess argues, “every day without leadership from Washington means more bloodshed in Ukraine – and more cracks in global security.”
“Russia continues to demand Kyiv’s capitulation to the full list of conditions President Vladimir Putin set at the war’s outset: Ukrainian neutrality, a government reshaped to suit Moscow’s interests, and the surrender of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions,” he writes. “Between the two rounds of talks, Putin even raised the stakes, adding a demand for a ‘buffer zone’ in northern Ukraine.”
Ukraine has refused those demands, and the war has continued.
According to Hess, the talks are a charade, which are more about sending a message to Trump than about ending the war.
“Neither side is genuinely negotiating with the other. Instead, both are using the forum to send messages to the United States – and to Donald Trump, in particular,” Hess writes. He also noted that there was no “high-level prenegotiation meeting” between the Americans and Russians ahead of the Istanbul talks.
In addition, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio was a noted Ukraine hawk during much of his career as a senator, he has reversed course and gone along with Trump’s view on the conflict, even as Republican Senators continue to back Ukraine, and have even pushed a bill strengthening sanctions on Russia, although it seems unlikely to pass the House without Trump’s backing.
Appeasement?
Since the Oval Office meeting, Hess also notes that Ukraine has been cozying up a bit more to Trump, including agreeing to a minerals deal with the White House that they had previously resisted.
Whether this has worked is another question.
“So far, Kyiv’s strategy of appeasement has yielded little change in Trump’s approach. While Trump has occasionally hinted at taking a tougher stance on Putin – usually in response to particularly egregious Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilians – he consistently deflects when asked for specifics,” Hess writes. “For months, he has promised to reveal his plan for Ukraine ‘in about two weeks,’ a vague assurance that remains unfulfilled. A new sanctions package reportedly prepared by his own team over a month ago still sits untouched.”
Trump Talks to Putin
Trump, earlier this week, shared that he recently had a call with the Russian president that lasted for over an hour.
“We discussed the attack on Russia’s docked airplanes, by Ukraine, and also various other attacks that have been taking place by both sides. It was a good conversation, but not a conversation that will lead to immediate Peace,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.
About the Author:
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
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