The meeting last August in Alaska was primarily a PR success for Vladimir Putin.Image: keystone
analysis
Since Donald Trump took office, the US has almost completely stopped aid to Ukraine. His preference for the aggressor Russia is obvious – but there are nuances.
Feb 24, 2026, 7:54 p.mFeb 24, 2026, 7:54 p.m
Donald Trump fully promised in the 2024 US election campaign that he would end the Ukraine war within 24 hours of taking office. It was one of his exaggerations, but the announcement haunts him stubbornly. The war is now in its fifth year, without the US President being able to achieve anything concrete.
Despite fatigue and Russia’s “cold terror” against the civilian population, the Ukrainians are by no means defeated. They are dealing with another “enemy”: Donald Trump. His idea of “peace” largely corresponds to that of Vladimir Putin. On Truth Social, Trump only calls on the Ukrainians to make concessions.
4 years of the Ukraine war in 52 pictures
In his simple logic, they must cede territory to Russia and then the war will be over. The frustration in Ukraine and with President Volodymyr Zelensky is correspondingly great. At the same time, they know they can’t anger Trump. He should “Stay by our side”Zelensky urged in an interview with CNN.
Help completely stopped
The Ukrainian had previously visibly struggled for an answer. He knows that reality is different. The USA has increased its military, financial and humanitarian aid in 2025 the Kiel Institute’s Ukraine Support Tracker practically completely discontinued. The Europeans have stepped into the breach, including by purchasing US war material.
Only the exchange of intelligence information continues to work because the Americans themselves benefit from it. You will receive valuable information about Russian warfare, especially with drones. This doesn’t change the overall picture: Donald Trump’s role in the Ukraine war is dubious, but he usually favors the attacker.
Doubtful “summit meeting”
“The Russians are getting things from the Americans that they never imagined in their wildest dreams,” said British analyst Keir Giles last fall in an interview with Watson. Is this due to Trump’s irritating weakness for the “strongman” Vladimir Putin? There has been speculation about the possible reasons for this for a long time.
There was a spontaneous conversation between Trump and Zelensky in St. Peter’s Basilica. It didn’t do much for Ukraine.Image: keystone
What is certain is that Trump regularly lets the Russian ruler wrap him around his finger on the phone. So he agreed to the dubious “summit meeting” with Putin in Alaska. Another meeting in Budapest did not take place, although he met Volodymyr Zelensky several times, among others on the sidelines of the funeral service for Pope Francis.
Lucrative deals
But Putin has, above all, a lure. He puts Trump and the USA at an end to the war lucrative deals in prospect – and the US President hears particularly well in this ear. He was already dreaming in the 1980s from a Trump Tower in Moscow. The Trump administration’s peace efforts must also be viewed from this perspective.
Instead of experienced diplomats, the president relies on his friend Steve Witkoff. He doesn’t speak Russian and barely knows the region. As a US special envoy he was “Six times in Russia, but never in Ukraine”writes Russia expert Angela Stent from the American Enterprise Institute in the magazine “Foreign Policy”.
Russian dictated peace
The former KGB officer Putin knows how to flatter and manipulate his contacts, Stent continues. He seems to have convinced Witkoff of his own and very specific view of Ukraine’s history. At least it is unmistakable that the US envoy is inclined towards the Russian point of view.
The Russian negotiator Kirill Dmitriev drafted a “peace plan” with Steve Witkoff (r.).Image: keystone
Like Trump, Witkoff comes from the real estate industry. He seems to believe that Ukraine only needs to cede part of the Donbass region. He designed it last November with the Russian negotiator Kirill Dmitriyev – he was an investment banker on Wall Street and speaks perfect English a 28-point planwhich would have resulted in a Russian dictated peace.
Measures against oil exports
Under European pressure, the plan was “defused” and reduced to 20 points. Nevertheless, the peace talks took place in Geneva last week no progress visible. For Angela Stent, these are “sham negotiations” with which Putin wants to keep Trump happy and deter him from taking tougher action against Russia.
That doesn’t always work, because Trump is quite prepared to take measures against the Russians. especially against their oil exports. In November he imposed sanctions on the oil companies Lukoil and Rosneft. He had ships from the Russian “shadow fleet” boarded and made a deal to force India to stop importing oil from Russia.
No pressure on Putin
The loss of the second largest customer after China would be a serious blow to Putin’s war economy. Analysts doubt that the Indians are prepared to completely give up Russian oil Imports are expected to decline. In January, India imported 1.2 million barrels per day, up from 2 million last year.
In this case, too, business interests appear to be the most important motive for Trump. India should therefore purchase oil from the USA and Venezuela. And a package of tough sanctions against Russia, supported by a broad bipartisan alliance, is stuck in the US Senate because Trump has not yet allowed a vote.
There are “few signs that the Trump administration is willing to put pressure on Putin,” writes Angela Stent in “Foreign Policy.” The president plays a dubious role in the conflict that he wanted to quickly end. Which is why Stent states soberly: “As long as nothing changes in Washington, the war is likely to continue for the foreseeable future.”