Trump’s rhetoric on Ukraine changes, while his actions so far remain the same

Washington – President Donald Trump is suddenly optimistic about Ukraine’s chances of repelling the invasion of Russia and resuming all of its territory, but the change of rhetoric means little unless it is ready to increase the pressure on the Kremlin, say diplomats and foreign officials.

So far, Trump has not taken these essential measures, they added.

Trump’s social media position turned upside down on Tuesday the conventional reflection on his vision of war, now in his fourth year. In February, he told the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy that he did not have the “cards” in a peace negotiation and that his country was in “big troubles”.

Now Trump says that Russia is the one in “big economic problems” and that his inability to quickly conquer her smallest neighbor revealed that she was a “paper tiger”.

“After having learned to know and fully understand the military and economic situation of Ukraine / Russia and, after having seen economic problems, this causes Russia, I think that Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is able to fight and win all of Ukraine in its original form,” he wrote in his article on Tuesday.

“Russia has been fighting for three and a half years a war that should have taken real military power less than a week to win,” added Trump. “This does not distinguish Russia.”

Trump’s objective by publishing the declaration was to exercise “maximum public pressure on Russia to bring them to the table for an agreement” to end the war, according to a senior Trump administration.

The next steps will depend on how Russia reacts, said that the official, who has not implemented specific policy changes that are currently performing.

There are different ways to interpret Trump’s declaration. The first is that he tired of the persistence of Russian President Vladimir Putin in the bombing of Ukraine and is ready to intensify coercive measures aimed at ensuring that Russia happens again.

“Trump concluded that Putin is not interested in peace,” said Senator Lindsey Graham, RS.C., a Trump confidant, in an interview on Wednesday. Calling the post of Trump and his speech to the United Nations General Assembly as a “change of game”, Graham added: “There was a belief in Moscow that Trump is on their side, but the president clearly indicated that Ukraine will have everything he needs as long as he needs.”

Another interpretation is that Trump ended up what proved to be a futile effort to sage a peace affair. Instead, Trump leaves European fighters and nations to resolve the war as much as they can.

“Good luck everyone!” Trump wrote at the end of his post.

Nothing in Trump’s post committed the United States to a more aggressive action on behalf of Ukraine. He did not say that he would impose secondary sanctions on China for his economic support for Russia. He also did not agree to slap new sanctions against Russia. Rather, he said that the United States would continue something that he already does: selling weapons to NATO that the Alliance in turn provides in Ukraine.

Trump’s message was exact insofar as he noted that the Russian economy was under pressure from international sanctions while approving the territorial integrity of Ukraine, said Evelyn Farkas, executive director of the McCain Institute’s thinking group. But there is no indication that the president was ready to take measures reinforcing the position of Ukraine, either by tightening Russia or by intensifying American military aid in Ukraine, she said.

“In terms of concrete action, this is the missing thing,” said Farkas. “He hasn’t changed anything he does.”

The social post of Trump’s truth seems to reflect his growing frustration of what he considers the intransigence of Russia and his recognition of what European governments have been saying for some time: that Moscow has trouble turning the trend in a grinding conflict.

“But I don’t think it is ready to do a lot,” said a source close to the government of Zelenskyy.

In another sign that the posture of America remains largely the same, nothing indicates that the White House had informed of the Allies or Ukraine that American politics had changed, according to three Western officials and a source close to Ukraine. Currently, the Allies do not provide that Trump’s new assessment will lead to concrete action such as a set of weapons for Ukraine, according to sources.

A Western civil servant, speaking under the cover of anonymity, said that the message to Europe seemed to be: “Have you.”

“I read it [Trump’s social media post] As he trying to get out of all this, “said John Bolton, who was a national security advisor to the White House during Trump’s first mandate and became a frank critic of the president.” He does not say that the United States is doing something new or different from what he does now, that is to say, selling weapons and ammunition and things to Europe. “

“It is not:” I will sanction Russia. I will arm Ukraine. I will do this or that. It is: “I am sure that Europeans and NATO will help,” added Bolton. (The FBI searched Bolton’s home last month as part of an investigation into classified files. A Bolton lawyer said that the former official had kept nothing inappropriate.)

It would be a mistake to reduce the import of Trump’s declaration, others said. A president who has long called for warmer relations between Washington and Moscow publicly raging the military machine of Russia publicly. People living in the shadow of Russia welcomed Trump’s assertion of Ukraine’s sovereignty.

“It is remarkable,” said Marko Mihkelson, president of the Estonian parliament of foreign affairs. “I probably see him as the first time that the American president said that Ukraine should win the war and this victory means the release of the occupied territories.”

A Western official whose country is a member of the so-called coalition of the will that supports Ukraine said: “We have always said that Russia has been weaker than anyone who thought. We have said they were weakened by sanctions and weaker than some people think and weaker than Putin thinks. We fully agree with this analysis. ”

As Trump’s message was to Ukraine allies, a front proposal could come at any time. Trump has a story to make statements that don’t always hold.

By heading for a summit meeting with Putin in Alaska last month, Trump said he wanted a cease-fire. He came out of the constant meeting, saying that the new objective was a broader peace agreement-a result that is not in sight. Moscow has widened its drone and missile attacks against Ukrainian cities, killing a record number of civilians.

Since his entry into office, Trump has threatened to impose new sanctions on Russia if she does not negotiate in good faith, and delivered two deadlines to Moscow which came without consequences.

The president mentioned a new deadline on Tuesday at a bilateral meeting at the United Nations with Zelenskyy. When journalists asked Trump if he always trusted Putin, he said, “I will let you know in about a month.”

Daniel Fried, former American ambassador to Poland and member of the Atlantic Council’s thinking group, said in an interview: “I am satisfied with the feeling of support” for Ukraine.

He added: “I do not want to be sarcastic or cynical, but we saw Trump for several months on the tip of the point of the action line, then we move away from it.”

“We see a lot of words from Trump. We have to see a real decision.”