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hot on the heels of A major diplomatic victory in Gaza who saw Remaining Israeli hostages released by Hamaschairman donald trump He is looking to repeat his success in a far more challenging arena: the nearly four-year-old Russian offensive. ukraine,
Trump, who has said he thinks it would be “easiest” to resolve the conflict, is set to host the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky Friday could be an important visit to the White House for Zelensky, who is openly seeking access to more advanced US weapons that would allow his armed forces to strike targets deep inside. Russia,
Relations between the two leaders have been fraught with conflict since an infamous phone call in 2019, shortly after Zelensky’s election, which ultimately led to controversy. The first of Trump’s two impeachments When he tried to extort the Ukrainian leader into announcing a fake investigation against then-former Vice President Joe Biden and his son.
It took another ugly turn in February when Zelensky visited the White House to discuss a mineral rights deal with the US, just a month into Trump’s second term but Ended in a shouting match after which he was asked to leave.
However, relations between them have warmed in recent months, as Putin’s habit of attacking civilian targets in Ukraine soured Trump after he assured Putin that he wanted to end the war.
The president has frequently boasted in recent months about his success in resolving military conflicts, some of which have a long history – including the decades-old border dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia, the more recent dispute between nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan, and Israel.Hamas The conflict was the latest example of a conflict that has been ongoing since Israel’s founding in 1948.
But the Russia-Ukraine war, which will enter its fourth year in February – or its 11th if triggered by the Russian invasion of Crimea in 2014 – is not like the wars he has claimed to resolve.
Ukraine, with support from the United States and Europe, has transformed its armed forces from what was once a tired, Soviet-style army equipped with gear left over from Ukraine’s days as a Soviet republic, into a modern fighting force that specializes in the most cutting-edge methods of drone warfare and boasts an array of modern American-made weapons.
Kiev’s forces have largely confined Russia to an area of the country that has long fought Russian-backed separatists, making the conflict similar to the deadliest war across Europe during World War I more than a century ago.
But Zelensky is hoping that Trump, hot on the heels of successfully bringing about a ceasefire between Israel and Gaza by using America’s considerable influence over Israel to force Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept a deal and threatening additional military force to force Hamas to agree, will take a similar approach to Moscow moving forward.
In a social media post on Monday, he explicitly compared Putin and Hamas, writing that the Russian leader could be “forced into peace – just like any other terrorist.”
“Even Hamas is now preparing to release hostages. If this becomes possible, Putin may also be forced to restore peace,” he said.
While Trump was able to leverage America’s relationship with Netanyahu’s government to force the Israeli leader to accept the deal over the objections of many members of his right-wing coalition, the president does not have the same pressure points to work with with Putin.
But he has other things he can manipulate, financial or otherwise.
European leaders have warned that Moscow is turning into a full-time war economy, even as it teeters on the brink of economic collapse, and now is the time to impose tougher financial penalties and sanctions.
Yet Trump has so far refrained from supporting a Senate-written bill to impose serious sanctions on Moscow, and has yet to take action against the “shadow fleet” of tankers that Putin uses to circumvent price limits on Russian oil exports — even though he has threatened to do so if the EU could cut itself off from Russian petroleum products entirely.
When the Ukrainian leader enters the Oval Office three days from now, the topic of increasing pressure on Putin with sanctions is sure to come up for Zelensky, as is Zelensky’s desire to have American-made Tomahawk cruise missiles, which give his forces the range to strike deep inside Russian territory – including into Moscow and beyond.
The two leaders spoke on Sunday before Trump departed Washington for Israel, with the US president describing their conversation as “a good conversation” in which they “discussed the weapons that they need”, including more Patriot air-defense missiles.
Speaking aboard Air Force One, Trump told reporters: “They would like to have Tomahawks – that’s a step forward.”
He said he told Zelensky he might consult Moscow before providing such weapons, calling their provision “a new step of aggression.”
That move was likely condemned by former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who claimed on Telegram on Monday that it would be impossible for Russian forces to distinguish between conventionally armed and nuclear-armed Tomahawks, even though the latter weapons were removed from the U.S. arsenal years ago.
“One can only hope that this is another empty threat,” he said.
But Trump was undeterred and threatened to send arms to Ukraine over Russia’s objections, “if this war is not going to be resolved.”
“The Tomahawk is an incredible weapon, a very offensive weapon. And frankly, Russia doesn’t need it,” he said.