Donald Trump shifts rhetoric on Ukraine: diplomat explains why

He expressed this opinion on the Espreso TV channel.

“I have several theories as to why Donald Trump has adopted such harsh rhetoric toward Ukraine. The first is that this is his signature political style—being aggressive, never admitting defeat, and continuing to pressure his opponents. In fact, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s stance disrupts Trump’s strategy of getting closer to Putin. The Ukrainian issue is actually quite minor for him. Of course, he very much wants to win the Nobel Peace Prize, but Russia is important to him for other reasons, ranging from commercial to strategic. Accordingly, his rhetoric on Ukraine may be a reaction to the fact that Trump failed to impose this agreement on us. We don’t know the details, but from what we can read in open sources, it looks like a scam,” Khara explained.

The diplomat emphasized that by fulfilling all of Putin’s demands, Donald Trump believes he can break the partnership between Russia and China, since the Trump administration views China as the main strategic adversary of the U.S.

“The other version seems more strategic. The point is that Trump’s administration, like the previous U.S. administration, believes they can pull Russia away from China. China is the greatest strategic threat to the U.S. Essentially, if they give Russia Ukraine and part of Eastern Europe, they believe they can achieve this goal. However, because of Ukraine’s refusal to sign the deal, this plan is now falling apart,” he added.

What preceded it

On February 18, during a press conference, Trump claimed that public trust in President Zelenskyy in Ukraine had fallen to 4%. In response, Zelenskyy said that Trump “lives in a disinformation space.”

The White House leader also questioned U.S. aid to Kyiv, amounting to $350 billion: “We have provided Kyiv with, I believe, $350 billion. Well, maybe a little less, but it’s a significant amount. But where is all this money? Where does it go? I’ve never seen a single report on it.”

Zelenskyy responded: “Our figures are entirely different. Everything is very clear: the war has cost us $320 billion. Of this, $120 billion comes from us, the Ukrainian people, as taxpayers. $200 billion comes from the U.S. and the European Union—these are weapons packages.”

On February 19, Trump claimed that Zelenskyy refuses to hold elections and has very low approval ratings in Ukrainian polls, calling him a “dictator without elections.”

At the same time, EU Ambassador Katarína Mathernová stated that elections in Ukraine cannot take place earlier than six months after martial law is lifted.

On February 20, the European Commission responded to Trump’s statement, emphasizing that “Ukraine is a democracy, while Putin’s Russia is not.”