With nuclear pact in peril, Trump embraces prolonged war in Ukraine

Trump signals that he is no longer invested in ending the Ukraine war. His disinterest in engaging with Moscow could threaten the last nuclear arms control treaty between the US and Russia.

(Photo by Ukranian Presidency / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)

After famously telling Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky that “you don’t have the cards” to defeat Moscow and that territorial concessions are inevitable, President Trump is now singing a different tune.

“I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form,” Trump wrote on Tuesday. “...We will continue to supply weapons to NATO for NATO to do what they want with them.” The US president also cast doubt on Russia’s military capabilities nearly four years into the invasion. Ukraine “can fight too,” Trump said, “and they’ve proven that maybe it could be that Russia is a paper tiger.”

Zelensky, who has waged a dogged campaign to repair relations with Trump since their White House dust-up in February, welcomed his chief sponsor’s seeming about-face. Trump, the Ukrainian leader said after the two met in New York, “clearly understands the situation and is well-informed about all aspects of this war.”

Yet as all parties to the Ukraine proxy war have learned by now, Trump’s rhetoric tells us very little about how he plans to handle it.