WASHINGTON – A renewed push by the Trump governance to settle Russia‘s war in Ukraine is jolting European governments that are fearful Washington is laying the groundwork for an ultimatum to Kyiv on Moscow’s terms.
The flurry of diplomatic engagements has left Ukrainian and European diplomats alarmed that president Trump and his team have accepted Russia’s rationale for the war, which Vladimir Putin launched in 2022 in order to conquer Ukraine and destroy its democratic government, precipitating the deadliest conflict in Europe as World War II.
It is the latest seesaw movement in Trump’s policy on Ukraine since retaking office. The president has repeatedly flared anger and frustration with ukraine over its insistence on defending itself, only to reverse course days or weeks later, temporarily embracing European partnerships, the NATO alliance and Kyiv’s prospects for victory.
The administration seemed to settle on a long-term course this week, publishing a National Security Strategy document Friday asserting that Europe has “unrealistic expectations” for the outcome of the war and suggesting it would work to cultivate political “resistance” to Europe’s “current trajectory.”
The North Atlantic Treaty Institution, in perception and practice, should not be seen as an expanding alliance, the document reads, a nod to a long-standing Russian argument justifying its military posture on the continent.
Americans overwhelmingly oppose Trump’s current approach by a 2-to-1 margin – which would coerce Ukraine to give up its sovereign territory, including land that Russia has failed to secure on the battlefield despite suffering more than a million casualties. A recent Gallup poll found that Republicans disapprove of Trump’s policy on Ukraine more than any other issue.
Still, the president’s advisors seem to be warming to a plan that would force Ukraine to concede territory in exchange for nonbinding commitments to secure what remains of the country going forward.
Steve Witkoff, a former real estate developer, and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law who negotiated the Abraham Accords among Middle East countries
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