FFirst there was Donald Trump calling Volodymyr Zelensky a “dictator”. Then there was the infamous stormy exchange at the White House on Friday, where the leader of Ukraine in wartime was accused of not being grateful for years of American support. Then there was an American decision Tuesday to suspend help, and another Wednesday to cut the sharing of information.
Now, the Trump administration plans to go beyond the legal status of 240,000 Ukrainians in the United States which fled the Russian invasion, potentially putting them on a fast way for expulsion.
These are the movements of an American president causing an anger about Ukraine, trying to twist his arm as if it were a kind of personal colonial asset or banana republic. All this pending that Ukraine will only turn around and sign a “peace agreement” without security guarantees.
No negotiations, no discussions, no annoying Ukrainian democracy – just kisses the ring and continue.
However, Trump makes the same mistake as Vladimir Putin – underestimating Ukraine as a Ukraine as a sovereign nation determined to survive. And, as the story continues to show us, it’s a terrible idea.
This is where Trump and Putin, two very different men with a Ukrainian problem, collide with reality. Trump, just like Putin, considers Ukraine as a drawback, an obstacle, something that should be grateful to have even a seat at the table. Instead, to his visible frustration on Friday, he met a leader who did not come together. The result was an unprecedented public sputum between two war times that saw Zelensky Storm outside the White House before a mineral agreement could be written.
Putin made a similar mistake when he convinced himself that Ukraine was a kind of false country, created by Vladimir Lenin as an office error. He expected a quiet parade in kyiv and rather walked directly in a nightmare of his own manufacture – one where demoralized “peasants” of Russian jokes have turned out to be one of the best fighters in the world with an entire society that fiercely supported them.
Like Putin, Trump just doesn’t get Ukraine. His approach did not weaken the Ukrainian president. If anything, it’s done the opposite. Even people who can’t stand Zelensky’s failures gave him the merit of standing. This is because Trump’s approach is not only an insult to Zelensky but for Ukraine itself – its national leadership establishment. And if there is one thing that Ukrainians love more than anything, it proves that arrogant world leaders are bad.
Trump does not see the nation behind the name. Instead, his administration sends palpeurs to opposition personalities like Petro Poroshenko and Yulia Tymoshenko – of which only 6% to 10% of voters say they will come back. None of the two realistic chances of directing Ukraine in free and fair elections – with Zelensky and the war hero, General Valeriy Zaluzhny, the clear favorites.
If the idea is to find a more conforming Ukrainian leader, good luck with that. Putin tried the same thing with her longtime collaborator Viktor Medvedchuk, his choice for a puppet manager, before Medvedchuk was arrested for betrayal in April 2022.
This is because – and this part is the key – this war does not concern Zelensky. These are people. These are 1 million men and women serving in the Ukrainian army, standing in trenches, dodging drones, evacuating the wounded and keeping the front lines. These are millions of others who keep the country on the move, collect funds, developed new weapons and refuse to break up in relentless Russian bombing.
History is full of examples of what is happening when an army loses the will to fight – the collapse of the Syrian regime in December, the Russian front during the First World War. This does not happen here. Russia advances and inflicts heavy losses on Ukraine. But Ukraine is still standing because Ukrainians are always ready to pay the price of their survival. Yes, Western weapons help greatly, but weapons do not fight wars. People do it.
This brings us back to Trump’s decision to suspend military aid and intelligence sharing. It is a terrible blow for the defenders of Ukraine.
But, once again, it will not force Ukraine to go from so early or accept a peace agreement without security guarantee. If there is one thing that this war has proven, it is because the Ukrainians are good to improvise when they owe it. When the Russian fireplace has become overwhelming, they introduced and mastered things like FPV drones and naval drones, which actually revolutionized modern war.
Ukraine has options. Europe is still in the game. The production of interior weapons in the country increases. Throughout Ukraine, small workshops – which calls the “military -industrial ghost -industrial complex” – work 24/7 to maintain the war effort. Ideas about how to mitigate Trump coating damage with Putin is boiling.
As long as we people want to keep our country that we love, there is always a way to follow.
