March 8th, 2025

Following a complete dismissal of Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy at the White House, the agreement initially slated to benefit Ukrainian economic and technological endeavours in its current war against Russia has slowly revealed a dark underbelly that experts, including Professor Popova, point to being beneficial to both Presidents Putin and Trump.

"This agreement was initially Zelensky’s idea,” says Maria Popova, an Associate Professor of Political Science at McGill University and author of Russia and Ukraine: Entangled Histories, Diverging States, explaining that he thought that it would give Trump “a reason to have a stake in Ukraine sovereignty and an interest in keeping Ukraine independent from Russia and holding Russia at bay.” 

Popova says that Zelensky “probably didn’t expect the situation that we have right now, which is that it seems that the Trump administration thinks that they can have their cake and eat it too — they can restore and reset friendly relationships with Russia and at the same time take advantage of investing in Ukraine.”

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