Trump has changed sides again and has kind words for the Ukrainian president.Image: keystone
analysis
After Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was repeatedly harshly criticized by US President Trump last year, he is suddenly full of praise. And the Foreign Ministry also declares Ukraine the current winner of the war.
June 25, 2026, 2:52 p.mJune 25, 2026, 2:52 p.m
The scenes from Volodymyr Zelenskyj’s visits to the White House remain unforgettable: While US President Donald Trump exposed, mocked and paraded the Ukrainian president, he repeatedly had to visibly pull himself together and smile – or they exchanged blows in front of the cameras. The relationship between the two powerful men had long been strained. But Ukraine depends on US support to survive in the war against Russia.
Last year there was a scandal between Trump and Zelensky.Video: external
Trump sided with Putin more than once. However, this no longer seems to be the case (for now). In his most recent speeches, Trump suddenly talked about how Zelensky was “doing pretty well.” “A lot of people are dying on both sides, but I think he’s doing a pretty good job,” said Trump at a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. Trump even described Zelensky as “courageous”. And: “He has great equipment, but also great men, he has fighters,” said Trump.
These are new sounds. Jeremy Lewin from the US State Department goes one better. “We are currently in a situation in which Ukraine is winning – for the moment,” he said in a public appearance. The dynamics of the war have changed. The successes are a “result of ongoing collaboration”. The G7 summit showed that the leading powers in Europe and the world are united.
The US State Department now assumes that Ukraine has taken the initiative and is winning the war, while Putin doesn’t want peace
US Deputy Secretary of State Jeremy Levin said that Ukraine had managed to… pic.twitter.com/NRKTNOx9O0
— @BrennpunktUA (@BrennpunktUA) June 25, 2026
Jeremy Lewin sees Ukraine on the road to victory at the moment.
Putin also seems to have noticed this about-face in the United States and was correspondingly annoyed. According to the Interfax agency, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accuses the USA of deviating from basic agreements. Trump probably forgot his own statements at the Alaska summit last year. In addition, the USA is no longer an objective mediator.
Trump and Putin met for talks in Alaska in August 2025.Image: keystone
The claim that Trump deviated from his own statements is understandable. Finally, French President Emmanuel Macron also declared after the G7 summit that previous agreements between Trump and Putin had finally been “buried” and that Trump had recognized that Russia did not want peace.
Lavrov is therefore demanding clarification from the USA. “We want to understand what happened in Évian,” he said. There is suspicion in Russia that the Alaska summit was merely a delaying tactic to gain time for Ukraine to arm itself.
Nevertheless, Russia wants to be available for talks. However, Lavrov also complained about the US’s ongoing sanctions and its arms sales to European countries to support Ukraine, Reuters reports. However, Russia did not promise an end to the war.