Locking your doors is what causes a break-in, at least according to President Donald Trump’s logic.
His recent claim that Ukraine should have never started a war misses a crucial point: It was not Ukraine’s decision to wage war. A sovereign nation does not wake up one day and decide to be invaded.
After Russia launched a full-scale war, Ukraine had a choice: to fight or to be conquered.
Equalizing self-defense to provocation is an insult to every Ukrainian who defends its land, identity and sovereignty. Ukraine’s fight is a necessity, and to think otherwise means siding with the aggressor.
Last week at his Mar-a-Lago mansion, Trump made a series of false claims about the war in Ukraine. Specifically, he attacked Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, stating that “he’s down at 4% approval rating” and is a “dictator without elections.” These outrageous claims spread a dangerous narrative similar to Russian disinformation.
They are easily falsifiable.
It is a mystery what source Trump was citing in reference to Zelenskyy’s approval rating, which is currently at 57% and hasn’t fallen below 52% since the invasion. In contrast, Trump’s approval rating has ranged from 43% to 50%.
Furthermore, Ukraine has been under martial law since February 2022, which implies suspending civilian legal processes, including presidential elections. Despite unsupported accusations from Russia echoed by Trump, Zelenskyy came and remains in power without any breaches of democratic integrity.
However, Trump himself can’t boast of the same record. Allegations of dictatorship are especially bold from a leader who days later, literally crowned himself a king on social media and yet again, raised the idea of running for an unconstitutional third term.
Trump has repeatedly hinted at cutting U.S. aid to Ukraine — an amount he claimed is almost triple the actual aid — and pressuring negotiations. The issue is in the appearance of negotiations being more valuable to Trump than the long-term impact.
These hasty negotiations appease Russia’s attempts to claim all seized land. Any peace treaty automatically becomes useless if one desires to disregard established norms and get away with aggressive tendencies.
A threat to democracy anywhere is a threat to democracy everywhere. Ukraine is not refusing peace — it refuses to surrender.
Yet, in his inaugural address, Trump said “my proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and unifier.”
A unity, built on the policy of appeasement? A complete disregard for sovereignty?
Calling for peace while siding with an adversary and blaming the aggrieved for non-cooperation is not peacemaking or unifying. It is an unspoken free pass for more dictatorial regimes to emerge and abuse their power.
Moreover, recent talks between the U.S. and Russia in Saudi Arabia about Ukraine happened without Ukraine present.
Diplomat Marco Rubio — who leads the U.S. in negotiations with Russia on the war in Ukraine, with Kyiv absent from the table — embodies the alarming shift in America’s foreign policy. In a March 2022 X post, Rubio stressed that Putin is an “expert liar” who will only consider a ceasefire for “tactical benefit.”
Three years later, he has either forgotten his own words or no longer minds being played by the very war criminal he once condemned.
With the colonialist inclinations of the Trump administration — which has proposed to purchase or conquer Greenland, subjugate the Panama Canal, make Canada the 51st state and instill ownership over Gaza, all that within its first month — the future of Ukrainian peace negotiations are unpredictable.
President Trump’s sympathy for true dictators only worsens the anxiety, emphasizing the continuous need to keep up with the news on Ukraine.
With the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale war on Feb. 24, 2025, the world comes into a phase of a major turning point. A lot is at stake — not only the fate of Ukraine but the future of world peace.
History will remember this moment, not only for what was decided but for who stood for justice and who chose to rewrite it.
