A renowned historian on Monday said Donald Trump is “the barrier” to peace in Ukraine, laying out the two steps the U.S. president could take to help realize his said goal of bringing the war to a close.
Trump, who has failed to deliver on his campaign pledge of ending the conflict within 24 hours of his inauguration, over the weekend railed against Putin for “needlessly killing a lot of people.”
“I’ve always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “He has gone absolutely CRAZY!”
In the same post, Trump also leveled criticism at Zelenskyy, claiming that he “is doing his Country no favors by talking the way he does.”
“This is a War that would never have started if I were President,” Trump said. “This is Zelenskyy’s, Putin’s, and Biden’s War, not ‘Trump’s,’ I am only helping to put out the big and ugly fires, that have been started through Gross Incompetence and Hatred.”
Renowned historian Timothy Snyder cautioned against overstating Trump’s frustration with Putin, while telling CNN that the U.S. could take two steps to end the war: apply more sanctions on Russia and increase air defense and other weapon supplies to Kyiv.
Trump is reportedly already exploring new measures targeting Russia to pressure Putin on peace talks, according to a new Wall Street Journal report. The potential new sanctions, which have not been finalized so far, would probably not include new financial restrictions on banks, the Journal added. Just last week, though, Trump had refused to join the European Union in targeting Russia with new sanctions.
Snyder explained that Trump fundamentally “doesn’t understand why people fight wars.”
“He doesn’t understand why Ukrainians would defend themselves, because he wouldn’t,” Snyder told CNN. “And he doesn’t understand why it is that Russia is trying to take territory.”
Snyder continued, “He doesn’t understand that he himself or our Congress have to change the stakes if they want to end the war. We could do it, he’s the barrier.”
Meanwhile, Zelenskyy, who has had to strike a delicate balance with Trump following their historic Oval Office clash earlier this year, on Monday said Russian strikes on his country “are becoming increasingly brazen and large-scale every night.”
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He wrote on Telegram, “There is no military logic in this, but it is a clear political choice – the choice of Putin, the choice of Russia – the choice to keep waging war and destroying lives.”
Russia’s massive bombing campaign launched in recent days seems to be deescalating, The Associated Press reported Tuesday, as Moscow took control of four border villages, according to a local official cited by the news agency.
