US President Donald Trump has significantly changed its position toward Russia since making a comeback in 2025 and adopting a noticeably softer stance toward Vladimir Putin and the continuing conflict in Ukraine. This strategy includes lowering military aid to Ukraine and making Kyiv agreeable words to put an end to the battle.
Trump is also stifling America’s ability to negotiate by constantly and quickly indicating the US’s willingness to make concessions.
Russia has generally responded with strength rather than peace. The Soviet Union only understood the language of authority, as noted US minister and scholar George Kennan once remarked in his 1946 Long Telegram. He was proven correct throughout, and since the Cold War, American concessions have frequently boosted rather than destabilized Russian aggression.
Trump’s interpersonal approach to politics strengthens this practice, enticing Moscow, and lowering any chance of a just solution to the Russo-Ukrainian conflict.
Affecting US utilize
President Trump has taken a number of activities since February that are in line with Russian corporate objectives. Among them are:
- Despite republican warnings that reducing help could change battlefield momentum in Russia’s favor, cutting military aid to Ukraine is a logical choice.
- blocking NATO membership and refusing Ukraine’s security guarantees, as a sign that geographical expansion may be rewarded more than discouraged.
- blaming Kyiv for the conflict while downplaying the fact that Russia invaded Ukraine, a position that echoes Kremlin advertising stories, and downplaying that it was wrong.
- Despite Ukraine’s legal explanation, criticizing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for postponing elections under military rules.
- voting against a UN resolution that upholds Ukraine’s sovereignty and condemns Russia’s activities.
This strategy echoes historic examples of European peace, such as Neville Chamberlain’s 1938 Munich Agreement and the weak protection of President Obama’s “red range” in Syria in 2013. Trump has weakened US influence by proactively making concessions, eliminating any opportunity for Putin to engage in good faith negotiations.
In contrast to Western governments, Putin’s Russia operates more on strength relationships than political niceties. Trump’s first concessions, such as suggesting the reputation of Russian-occupied Ukrainian lands, will therefore be seen in Moscow as a display of failure rather than kindness. This lessens the US’s influence in discussions, and consequently, that of its friends.
Russia simply responds to violent deterrence, according to 20th-century history. The Reagan president’s increased military spending during the Cold War certainly contributed to the economic collapse of the Soviet Union, and Russian passions in Eastern Europe were dissuaded by NATO expansion in the 1990s and early 2000s.
More recently, the inconsistent US response to the 2014 annexation of Crimea made it easier for Russia to establish its full-scale war of Ukraine in 2022.
Trump’s diplomatic efforts project failure rather than pragmatism, alone by trustworthy enforcement mechanisms. Moscow is simply encouraged to intensify rather than reach a compromise by doing so.
alienating America’s friends
Trump and Putin are attempting to broker a bargain, but Western allies are becoming more skeptical of US support for transatlantic security.
At the Munich Security Conference in 2025, his presidency downplayed Russia’s risk, shocking Western leaders. The continent has now been pressured by US withdrawal to develop an impartial defense strategy that could possibly stifle Nato cohesion.
The UN vote on a resolution involving the Ukraine will aforementioned more fracturing America’s relationships.
Trump’s policies run the risk of creating a corporate pump, causing Russia and China to bolster their political ambitions at the same time as they do so.
New peace negotiations in Saudi Arabia demonstrate Russia’s tactical approach to conversations. Russia deliberately thwarted the involvement of US special envoy Keith Kellogg, demonstrating its attempt to sway the political process.
This is in response to a well-known Russian dealing technique, which is to keep talks going while making unfeigned demands. In Saudi Arabia, these included forbidding international soldiers, limiting Ukraine’s military might, and keeping occupied Russian territories.
As some have suggested, Putin simply has intentions to restructure the battlefield on his terms and does not intend to stop the conflict. Russia is free to carry on its rude given Trump’s errors, knowing that US strain on Ukraine will diminish any resistance.
A tense ceasefire, as is currently being discussed, will enable Russia to recover and establish fresh attacks, and it could be ended at any time.
China will also be strongly watching. Beijing might feeling motivated to increase its military presence in Taiwan and the South China Sea if Trump wins.
Trump’s bumbling trust
Over half of Americans believe Trump to be too close to Russia, according to a new surveys. His eagerness to officially announce political concessions, such as preventing Ukraine from joining NATO, reveals a tactful negotiation approach that undermines the US’s standing internationally.
Trump’s strategy emphasizes personal deal-making over structured policy, which eventually leads to strategic errors, and it echoes his previous diplomatic failures, which some have called” cowboy diplomacy.” His excessive openness about concessions, which are far from bolstering US leverage, gives Putin room to determine the terms of the agreement.
Trump’s misinterpretation of Putin’s strategy has resulted in a polarized NATO, a weaker US place, and a more resilient Ukraine. Russia merely respects power, no appeasement, according to history, but Trump’s diplomacy appears to offer punitive concessions with little strategic benefit.
Trump’s plans will not put an end to the conflict, but instead will force it to drag on with Moscow and the US acting as its dictate, unless Europe and the US reverse course and reaffirm their leadership in defending Ukraine and dispelling Russia.
Chris Kostov is an associate professor of history and foreign ties at IE University and Schiller International University, Madrid, Spain.
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