Trump Can and Should Save Ukraine

Trump has been making headway on his campaign promises. From pardoning Jan. 6 rioters, to pulling out of the Paris climate agreement, to threatening tariffs on America’s largest trading partner (and toying with Canada’s sovereignty while he’s at it), the newly elected President is sending a message to the world: Don’t mess with Trump 2.0. 

This energy and momentum will be the backdrop of his next big foreign policy promise — ending the war in Ukraine. 

As a Ukrainian Canadian who has been warned my entire life about the danger that Putin poses and the ease with which he seems to convince people in the West of his story, I have grown up with an innate understanding of his character. With a meeting arrangement in progress, there are two undeniable things that President Trump needs to remember about the Russian President if he wants to walk away the winner of any negotiation: Vladimir Putin is a threat to global security, and he is a liar.

The Russian president distorts history to align with his political agenda. One example is his claim that NATO promised it wouldn’t expand after the fall of the Soviet Union. No matter how many times this has been disputed by Western leaders, historians, and even former president of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, he stubbornly and conveniently uses this trope to justify the Russian Federation’s illegal invasions of Ukraine — first in 2014, and again in 2022. 

Ukraine voluntarily gave up its nuclear arsenal in 1994 under the guarantees that its territorial sovereignty would be ensured and defended by the U.S. and, importantly, Russia (among other countries). Putin broke that promise in the most horrific and inhumane way, leading the International Criminal Court to issue him an arrest warrant for his alleged war crimes. This, along with his suppression of his political opponents by force, violent repression of protests in Russia, and his obsession with dominating post-Soviet nations who are desperately trying to define themselves as democracies, proves that he is a threat to the free world that cannot be trusted.

Ukraine is a sovereign and independent country, yet Putin consistently refuses to recognize this. He conspiratorially blames the West, in particular the United States, for infiltrating the Ukrainian population and manipulating them to move towards democracy and away from Russia. But Ukrainians and Russians are not, as Putin insists, “one people” who were merely “artificially separated by the fall of the USSR.” Ukrainians, as any sovereign people, are capable of making their own political decisions. And by most accounts, they want democracy. 

Despite the insistence of many on the right, Russia’s attack on Ukraine is uniquely America’s problem. Putin’s “completely new world order” is a project long underway, with the destruction of Europe and the destabilization of the U.S. as his ultimate goals. Not only that, but a win for Russia would embolden China to make a move on Taiwan, and North Korea on South Korea. A win for Russia would lead to global nuclear proliferation. Though “America-first” is Trump’s prerogative, America is the pinnacle of liberal democracy, and as the leader of the free world, America has a responsibility to defend it. If it doesn’t, the authoritarian powers of the world will take its place. 

Trump may think he has a good relationship with the Russian president — perhaps he does — but Trump should know that he is being played. Russians are notoriously patient and calculating. Putin is a trained and highly skilled KGB agent, serving for over 15 years right up to the collapse of the Soviet Union. He is an expert at manipulation, persuasion, infiltration, evasion, and strategy, and he has been using these KGB techniques to win over and intimidate world leaders during his now quarter-of-a-century reign. This was a problem for Trump, the first go-around — which is likely why Ukrainians and democracy lovers around the world are worried about what he might do this time. 

What Trump does next is critical to the security of Ukraine, Europe, Canada, and the world. Between NATO membership, security guarantees, or the ceding of captured territory, the path forward for Ukraine is unclear. But as long as Trump recognizes that Putin is not his friend, there is still hope. 

Maria Ovcharenko is a contributor for Young Voices. She completed the Ukrainian Canadian Congress Parliamentary Internship Program from September-December 2023.