March 14th, 2025
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President Donald Trump appears to be well on his way to a geopolitical shift in U.S. policy, from backing Ukraine’s existential fight for survival in the face of Russian aggression to siding with Vladimir Putin’s Russia. The pivot has been jarring: the United States voted with Russia in the United Nations against a resolution condemning Russia’s war; Trump blamed Ukraine for the war; he berated President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the media and then verbally ganged up on him in view of cameras at the White House alongside Vice President JD Vance; and Trump briefly suspended both aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine in an effort to coerce compliance. In Trump’s own words, he “trusts” Putin and insists that “we are doing very well with Russia […] I’m finding it more difficult, frankly to deal with Ukraine.”
Forcing Zelenskyy out would not solve Trump’s and Putin’s problem. Two of Zelenskyy’s possible political competitors, former President Petro Poroshenko and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, recently met with the Trump administration and have affirmed that they have no interest in replacing Zelenskyy and oppose elections while the war is ongoing. It’s a sign of deep misunderstanding of Ukrainian politics that the Trump administration would think installing one of these as leaders of Ukraine would in any way resolve the impasse and secure a quick deal in Russia’s favor. Poroshenko was the harder-line candidate to Zelenskyy’s “peace” campaign in 2019 and since 2022, he has spent his time raising funds for the Ukrainian army and donating equipment. Tymoshenko was the main competitor to pro-Russian candidate Viktor Yanukovych in the 2010 presidential race. Both politicians’ parties in parliament have supported the pro-Western policies and the war efforts of the government. General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the former commander of Ukraine’s armed forces who has not declared any political ambitions but who could be the most serious hypothetical competitor to Zelenskyy given his standing in the polls, would not give in to Russia either.
To bring true peace to Ukraine and restore stability in Europe, the Trump administration needs to understand that its interest lies not in backing Putin but rather in putting real pressure on the Russian dictator. Serious threats to tighten and expand sanctions, confiscate Russia’s frozen assets, and back Ukraine’s defense fully, the new U.S. administration has a chance to extract concessions from Russia and help bring about the historic peace deal Trump claims he can achieve.
