Throughout the 2024 presidential election, Donald Trump promised, on multiple occasions, that he would end the war in Ukraine. He has also stated that he believes the conflict would never have begun if he had been in office to prevented. Now that he is elected, many Americans are watching and waiting for him to fulfill his promise or fail completely. In the past week, there has been movement from Trump and his team on this issue, movement that has made some question whose side he is on. Before jumping into the recent events, surrounding Russia, Ukraine and the U.S., here is a brief look at the history surrounding the current conflict.
Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24th 2022, which was a significant escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian war. Americans watched in shock and horror as Russia invaded, creating the largest and deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II. Russia was hoping for a quick and easy takeover, but Ukraine has been able to successfully resist Russian forces with the help of several Western countries, including the U.S. The countries have continued to fight throughout the three years following the invasion, leading tens of thousands of civilian casualties, hundreds of thousands of military deaths, and a refugee crisis.
Talks between Russian and the U.S. officials took place last Tuesday in Saudi Arabia regarding the Ukraine-Russia conflict. Ukrainian officials were not involved in these talks–they were not invited. When Ukrainian officials objected to being excluded from these serious discussions surrounding the war, Trump was dismissive and stated that Ukraine should not have allowed the conflict to begin in the first place. He believes that Ukraine should have made a deal with Russia prior to their invasion in order to prevent it.
Trump has also been throwing both criticism and insults at Volodymyr Zelensky, the President of Ukraine. Trump posted on Truth Social that Zelensky is “a modestly successful comedian” and that Zelensky “Talked the United States of America into spending $350 Billion Dollars” and has claimed that Ukraine allows the war to continue for financial gain. Trump has claimed that support for Zelensky is low in Ukraine, which is not true as he has been successful in recent polls. Trump also called Zelensky “A Dictator without Elections.” This criticism ignores the fact that elections cannot currently be held in Ukraine due to martial law and would be logistically impossible to hold due to the massive displacement of Ukrainian people. Trump has also stated that large portions of the $350 billion in U.S. aid to Ukraine has gone missing. This is not entirely true, the U.S. has given $183 billion rather than $350 billion. It is true, however, that some of the money has gone missing or never made it to Ukraine in the first place.
Trump hasn’t just been throwing shots at Zelensky, he has also been trying to come up with a plan for Ukraine to pay the U.S. back for all that they have given Ukraine throughout the war. Trump is seeking $500 billion worth of natural resources from Ukraine in exchange for help from the United States. President Zelensky has already refused this deal but has stated that he is open to negotiating.
Most people probably look at this situation with some level of confusion. While Trump has been critical of the amount of money sent from the U.S. to Ukraine, he has never indicated that he doesn’t support Ukraine. Many are wondering: Is Trump on Ukraine’s side or is he on Russia’s side? What is going on? Unfortunately there is not a clear answer to any of these questions.
It is important to remember, however, that Russia has largely been excluded by the U.S. and other countries from peace talks in recent years. Former President Joe Biden did not have much of a diplomatic relationship with Russia and they have been largely isolated within the international community. It is possible that Trump has been focusing heavily on having talks with Russia and rebuilding a relationship with them in order to build trust and increase their willingness to cooperate. If this conflict is going to be resolved, Russia will have to be involved in one way or another, whether they willingly enter into an agreement or are forced by the U.S. to cooperate. No matter how hated Russia is as a country, the people living there will be affected by whatever deal is struck.
The situation between Ukraine, Russia and the United States is complicated and it seems to only get messier as time goes on. it is difficult to say, as of right now, what the solution will be and who will benefit from it.