Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin during their phone call, March 18, 2025 (Drew Angerer/Gavriil Grigorov/Getty/AFP)
EA-Times Radio Special: Facing Trump from Ukraine to “No Kings” Marches
EA on TVP World: Trump’s Latest Chaos Over Ukraine
In a studio interview with Times Radio’s Louis Sykes, I explain how Donald Trump’s retreat from support for Ukraine does not mean victory for Vladimir Putin in his 45-month full-scale invasion.
I explain how the Kremlin got a short-term easing of pressure from the US with Putin’s call to Trump last Thursday, just before the reality TV star met Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House.
Trump backed away from supply of Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine for strikes into Russia. He suggested that Kyiv give up the rest of the Donestk region, in the east of the country, to Russia. However, after Zelensky’s response, he stepped away from the Kremlin’s demand and said negotiations should begin on the basis of current frontlines.
That put Putin, facing a scheduled summit with Trump in Budapest, in a difficult position. Did he appease Trump by giving up his claim on Donetsk and suspending missile and drone strikes on Ukrainian civilians, effectively abandoning his legacy of bringing Ukraine into a “Greater Russia”? Or did he maintain his quest and risk alienating Trump once and for all?
I suggested the Russians would try to postpone the summit. Hours later, they cancelled it altogether.
Putin has succeeded in spinning Trump like a weathervane again. But it’s just for the moment.
The problem for Moscow is that Trump’s priority is not simply to be Vladimir Putin’s vehicle to take over more territory in Ukraine, to get the sanctions lifted, to block Kyiv getting security guarantees.
Trump’s priority is that he is the “peacemaker”.
