Trump pressure may push Ukraine into excessive territorial concessions — U.S. diplomat

Matthew Bryza, diplomat and former Director for Europe and Eurasia Affairs at the U.S. National Security Council, stated this in an interview with Espreso.

"I think the problem is that President Trump positions the U.S. as a mediator without choosing either side, instead of clearly supporting Ukraine. The Biden administration declared its support for Ukraine, but as we've discussed many times, it responded very slowly to Ukraine's requests for various types of military assistance. They seemed to be afraid of Russia and didn't want to provoke it into using nuclear weapons, and as a result, they essentially restrained themselves," Matthew Bryza commented.

In his opinion, Trump seems to understand that Putin has no intention of using nuclear weapons and is merely bluffing. However, since Trump is not decisively supporting Ukraine, a situation is emerging similar to that under Biden, where the U.S. president is not doing everything necessary for Ukraine to achieve victory.

"As a result, Ukraine is being pressured to revise its goals, which effectively means pressure aimed at territorial concessions. Therefore, there is a risk that President Trump's pressure will force Ukraine to give up too much territory, including fortress cities such as Kostiantynivka and others. Consequently, Ukraine will be left unprepared and unable to defend itself effectively in the future after this war, when Russia rearmed and likely attempts to attack again. At the same time, this risk is not immediate, and for now, I believe it's positive that the Trump administration is acting as a mediator and trying to bring Russia into the negotiation process, recognizing that it is weakening and not succeeding on the battlefield," the diplomat noted.

Bryza pointed out that a positive signal is the growing likelihood of a ceasefire.

"At the same time, the main risk is that the Trump administration may put Ukraine in a situation where it will be forced to surrender these fortress cities and in the future will be less prepared for a possible new Russian attempt to seize Ukrainian territory. For your president, this is an extremely difficult choice—whether to agree to what the American mediator is proposing. On the other hand, President Zelenskyy has been very successful on the diplomatic front and has demonstrated impressive resilience in resisting pressure from the U.S., particularly during that terrible meeting in the Oval Office," Bryza concluded.

• On January 30, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejected the idea of holding negotiations with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin in Moscow, emphasizing that Ukraine is ready for any real format of meeting, and specifically invited the Kremlin leader to Kyiv.