US-UKRAINE RELATIONS SOUR
Trump’s latest remarks are nothing more than his administration bending the knee to Moscow, said Malcolm Davis, senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute – a defence and strategic policy think tank.
This comes after top American and Russian officials had an initial meeting on ending the Ukraine war. Kyiv was not invited.
“There’s no way that Ukraine is gonna get a fair and just peace out of this current process,” said Davis.
“I think what you’re seeing here is Trump trying to create a narrative that justifies him walking away, not only from Ukraine, but also from Europe as well, and basically abandoning Europe and Ukraine to the mercy of the Russians,” he told CNA’s Asia First.
“Zelenskyy has every right to challenge Trump on this, because what’s going to happen is that any peace deal that the US and Russia agree to at Ukraine’s expense – excluding Europe from the table – will see the Russians make all sorts of demands in terms of additional territory that they want to control.”
The US had been the largest source of aid to Ukraine, including arms and financial support, but in a sudden policy shift since taking office, Trump has opened talks with Moscow.
“Ukraine now has to turn to Europe, and I think that Europe, in its own interests, has to stand up and stand on its own two feet and recognise that in a crisis, it may not be able to count on the United States as well,” said Davis.
“From Ukraine’s perspective, I think they need to start thinking about alternative supply of military assistance and economic assistance. They can’t count on the Americans any longer.”
