In a carelessly thrown remark this week Donald Trump made it clear that he does not consider the war in Ukraine to be a conflict in which both sides are to blame. "Russia, frankly, is behaving well in relation to Ukraine", the American president said. "She hasn't done that much".
For residents of Kiev, enduring weeks of increasingly intense bombing, and for Ukraine's allies across Europe, the statement reinforced the growing impression that the United States is siding with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in the war, writes "Politico".
"American negotiators have been trying to force Ukraine to capitulate for almost two years now," EU foreign policy chief Kaia Kallas told the European Parliament yesterday. She added that the only reason Ukraine has not yet "capitulated on Putin's terms" is the overwhelming support he receives from Europe.
As they try to find an explanation for Trump's latest turn against Ukraine, some European officials and diplomats believe that the reasons lie both in the president's personal preferences and in his country's political goals.
"I really think it's something personal", said former British cabinet minister David Lidington, who is now a distinguished fellow at the Royal Institute for Defence and Security Studies — a leading think tank in London. "Trump is focused on himself — his personal bias towards dictators and autocrats, as well as his desire to provide opportunities for American business... are very important factors in his motivation".
In private conversations, EU officials have expressed the same view.
"Trump doesn't like [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky. He just doesn't like him", said a government official who has closely watched both leaders. "That makes it difficult to bring the United States into the peace effort. For Trump, everything is a rational business deal - until suddenly it stops being one".
A diplomat from an EU member state, who spoke on condition of anonymity, noted that the erratic Trump could change his mind again and reverse his recent actions against Ukraine. The US president has repeatedly changed his positions on various issues, "with one exception," the diplomat said. "He seems to be pro-Russian".
"He criticizes Ukraine, the EU and NATO, but he has hardly ever said anything critical of Putin. That is striking. We have to work with an administration that seems more pro-Russian than any other," the diplomat said.
Mounting losses
For Ukraine and its European allies, the prospect that nothing can or will change Trump's attitude towards Zelensky is bleak. After four and a half years of war, Kiev is short of funds and air defense systems. In addition, with support for the populist right growing in Europe, the country could face a weakening of political support in the coming months.
Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, met with the Ukrainian president and the leaders of Norway and Finland for talks in Oslo on Thursday. Today, he traveled to St. Petersburg to discuss peace proposals with the Russian leadership, as the White House steps up pressure for a ceasefire. One option that will be offered to Putin is a trilateral summit involving Trump and Zelensky.
Previous attempts to bring the Russian president to such a meeting have failed, however, and European diplomats do not believe that Putin is sincerely interested in a ceasefire. That is one of the reasons why Trump’s hostility to Zelensky is causing such serious problems.
"There is a clear consensus across Europe that Putin does not want peace", a second EU diplomat stressed. "He will have to be forced to accept peace".
Instead of making demands of Putin, however, Trump has increased the pressure on Zelensky, even as Russia has escalated attacks on Ukrainian cities this month. The Ukrainian leader is feeling increasingly tense, as he told his European counterparts in private meetings in Brussels last week.
In a series of highly critical statements in recent days, Trump has said that Zelensky "doesn't care" and "doesn't want to end this war" and that he should be removed - either as a leader or as a negotiator on behalf of Ukraine.
"President Putin would like to make a deal," Trump said. "President Zelensky could have made a deal or resolved this war many times".
The humiliating Oval Office brawl
According to Lidington, Trump's hostility may stem from an incident in 2019, during his first term as president, when he demanded that the Ukrainian leader cooperate in investigating Joe Biden, who went on to defeat Trump in the next presidential election. A series of hostile meetings in the years that followed, including one in the Oval Office in February 2025, further reinforced that impression, he said.
"It was clear that during the infamous White House meeting, Trump and [Vice President J.D.] Vance had planned to publicly humiliate Zelensky. It struck me even then that there was a very personal element to it," Lidington said.
"I think there's another factor. If you look at the people Trump is trying to establish close relationships with, you'll notice that they tend to be authoritarian leaders with a strong hand — and they're men," he added.
Liddington recalled a dinner with world leaders in 2018 in Paris to mark the centennial of the end of World War I. French President Emmanuel Macron and then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel were co-hosts of the event and sat at the center table, but Trump showed no interest in engaging in casual conversation with either of them, Lidington said.
"It was clear from his body language that Trump was eager to be in their company.Among the people he really wanted to talk to was [Turkish leader Recep Tayyip] Erdogan, as well as others who more closely fit the image of the strong leader that Trump himself likes to portray," he noted.
"Strange stories"
A senior European official familiar with the Ukraine talks said Trump's motives were partly political, partly driven by his judgment of what would be profitable and partly driven by his personal relationships with various people.
"They are in an election cycle right now and they need someone to blame for the rising prices," the representative said. "Trump generally has a weakness for different types of people and leaders. In fact, he has a sympathy for successful and cheerful people.".
In recent days, Zelensky has warned that Ukraine is suffering more civilian casualties as the United States has reduced its support, including through the Starlink and Starshield services, which help the country defend itself from Russian attacks and plan its military operations.
"We still don't have any explanation for this - just various strange stories," Zelensky told US lawmakers on Monday.
This month, advance warnings from US partners about impending Russian missile strikes have not been provided in the usual way. Zelensky also said that Ukraine is experiencing a shortage of interceptor missiles for the Patriot systems.
The Pentagon has not made an official comment on Ukraine's complaints.
The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine reported that 328 civilians were killed and more than 2,000 were injured in Ukraine last month. This represents an 85% increase compared to September 2025.
The UN said the first two weeks of October were among the deadliest for civilians in Ukraine in years, due to an increase in drone and missile attacks.
The first EU diplomat quoted said that many European governments were irritated by the fact that Trump had so far excluded Europeans from his talks with Putin.
"There is probably much more dialogue between the Americans and the Russians than we think," the diplomat noted.
The meeting with Witkoff in Norway yesterday created the conditions for the resumption of direct contacts with Putin — at least from Zelensky's side.
"Today was a good day for peace", Finnish President Alexander Stubb said after participating in the talks in Oslo.
"Substantially and at a technical level, we have made significant progress in the last week or so, largely unnoticed by the public. Now I feel that the process is back on track," Stubb said, adding: "I hope we don't take a step back".
Source: news.bg