Trump flips US approach, says without evidence that Ukraine started the war
20/2/2025 6:04
When Russian President
Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine nearly three
years ago, then-U.S. President Joe Biden took a firm stand in
solidarity with Kyiv, forged a bulwark of European allies and
set veteran advisers to the task of isolating Moscow
economically and diplomatically.
Washington's approach changed dramatically with this week's
initial high-level talks between the U.S. and Russia and took an
even more ominous turn when Trump, without evidence, then blamed
Kyiv for starting the war and called Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelenskiy a "dictator without elections."
The senior negotiators met in Riyadh on Tuesday just a
month after Donald Trump returned to the White House, with
Ukraine and NATO partners sidelined by a relatively
inexperienced team of Trump aides and Putin granted concessions
even before the talks got under way.
Trump's rush to impose an end to Russia's war in Ukraine -
and his seeming embrace of Kremlin talking points - has stoked
fears of a peace deal with Putin that could undermine Kyiv and
Europe's security and alter the geopolitical landscape.
"The really worrying fact is that Trump has taken Russia
from pariah to prized partner in the time span of just a few
days. That comes at a price," said Brett Bruen, a former foreign
policy adviser in the Obama administration.
Tuesday's talks, the first time the U.S. and Russia have met
to discuss the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two,
yielded agreement to form negotiating teams for future meetings
and to restore the normal functioning of each other's diplomatic
missions, reflecting a thawing of long-frozen relations.
Even before the meeting, European politicians accused Trump
of handing free concessions to Moscow last week by ruling out
NATO membership for Ukraine and saying it was an illusion for
Kyiv to believe it could win back the 20% of its territory now
under Russian control. Some critics condemned Trump for what
they said amounted to appeasement.
But Trump went even further when he told reporters, without
explanation, that Ukraine "should have never started" the war,
which began with Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion that the U.S.
and other Western nations said was unprovoked.
Then, on Wednesday, responding to Zelenskiy saying Trump was
living in a Russian disinformation bubble, the president cast
doubt on Zelenskiy's democratic credentials in a social media
post, warning that he had better secure a peace fast or he would
have no country left. Zelenskiy's elected term was supposed to
end in 2024 but a vote has been delayed by martial law imposed
in response to Russia's invasion.
MAJOR PLAYERS EXCLUDED
Ukraine's exclusion from Tuesday's meeting marked a sharp
departure from Biden and NATO's mantra of "nothing about Ukraine
without Ukraine." Kyiv has said it will not accept any deal
imposed without its consent.
And the absence of European representatives added to U.S.
allies' anxieties about whether Trump might be willing to give
up too much for little from Putin.
That helped spur European governments to discuss the
possibility of contributing peacekeepers to back any deal on
Ukraine. But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow
would not accept NATO troops in Ukraine.
There was no immediate sign that Russian officials had
offered any concessions in Tuesday's meeting.
The encounter saw Lavrov and Kremlin foreign policy aide
Yuri Ushakov - two veterans who have spent a combined 34 years
in their current roles - negotiate with three Trump aides in
their first month on the job - Secretary of State Marco Rubio,
national security adviser Mike Waltz and Trump envoy Steve
Witkoff.
"The American team has almost no experience in high-level
international negotiation, no regional expertise on Ukraine and
Russia, and no relevant foreign language knowledge," Timothy
Snyder, a Yale University professor and Russia expert, wrote on
X. "Not true of the Russians, to put it mildly."
Bruen described it as "amateur hour" for Trump's national
security apparatus.
A Trump administration official said Washington could not
help foster a lasting peace with the same lack of engagement
that has allowed the death and destruction in Ukraine to
continue.
"President Trump has built a strong team that is already
demonstrating his peace through strength agenda in action," said
Brian Hughes, spokesman for the White House National Security
Council.
Trump said on Tuesday he was more confident after the talks
and he would probably meet with Putin before the end of the
month. He has praised Putin in the past and commended him for a
conciliatory attitude after their phone call last week.
Speaking to reporters in Palm Beach, Florida, Trump brushed
aside Ukraine's concern about being left out of the meeting and
said Kyiv should have entered talks much earlier.
Rubio said earlier that no one was being frozen out and any
solution must be acceptable to all parties. But there was no
immediate word on how Ukraine might be allowed to join.
Zelenskiy postponed a visit to Saudi Arabia planned for
Wednesday because of what sources familiar with the matter said
was to avoid giving "legitimacy" to the U.S.-Russia talks.
He drew the Trump administration's ire last weekend when he
said a draft minerals deal with Washington did not contain the
security provisions that Kyiv needed.
Three sources said the U.S. had proposed taking ownership of
50% of Ukraine's critical minerals, apparently in compensation
for vital U.S. military aid, a demand some Trump critics have
likened to extortion.
'RUSSIA WON ROUND ONE'
Emma Ashford, senior fellow at Stimson Center think tank in
Washington, said the Trump administration may have been
justified in keeping the talks limited for now.
"It's certainly not ideal that Ukraine was not in the room,
though I believe they'll be at future such meetings," she said.
"But the administration is probably right that including a
variety of European partners in the room might make for too many
voices and make any progress more difficult."
Still, Democrat Jake Auchincloss, who is a co-chair of the
House of Representatives' Ukraine caucus, said Russia had won
round one.
"The Kremlin has been normalized in bilateral diplomacy that
excludes Ukraine and NATO and they gave up nothing to get that,"
he told Reuters.
Three Western intelligence officials told Reuters they have
seen no new evidence that suggests Putin's goals have changed,
saying he intends to hold all the territory his forces have
taken with the long-term aim of expanding his reach inside
Europe.
"Putin will not stop at Ukraine," Darius Jauniškis, director
of Lithuania's State Security Department, told Reuters. "Is
there a sincere desire to end the war? I don't think so."
Trump's fellow Republican, Roger Wicker, chairman of the
Senate Armed Services Committee, agreed Putin could not be
trusted in Ukraine talks.
"Putin is a war criminal," Wicker told CNN.
When asked about Trump's comment that he believes Putin
wants peace, Wicker added: "What we can trust the Russians to
do, is to do anything to their advantage, to take temporary
steps."
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