Donald Trump just claimed Ukraine “may not survive” in its war against Russia even if the US does renew its support the beleaguered country.
The US president recently pulled American intelligence sharing and military aid from Ukraine, a move experts believe has already given Vladimir Putin the upper hand on the frontline.
Trump also kicked Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy out of the White House last month after accusing him of being ungrateful for the US’s wartime support.
So, on Fox News last night, presenter Maria Bartiromo asked the president: “Are you comfortable with that, the fact that you walked away and Ukraine may not survive?”
He replied: “Well it may not survive anyway, but, you know, we have some weaknesses with Russia. You know, it takes two.
“Look, it was not going to happen this war, and then it happened. So now we’re stuck with this mess. Think of what he [Joe Biden] stuck me with.”
Trump’s administration has upended western policy during its first 50 days in office by withdrawing support for Ukraine – and putting little to no pressure on Russia.
He is pushing for a quick peace deal, which the president has already suggested may be more favourable to the aggressors in the Kremlin who started the war than Ukraine.
Putin’s troops are still making gradual progress on the frontline, too. They currently hold about a fifth of Ukraine’s territory.
According to the US-based think tank, the Institute for the Study of War, there may be a “noteworthy” correlation between the suspension of US intelligence sharing with Ukraine and how Russia has started to break down Ukraine’s hold on Kursk – the Russian region they seized last August in a surprise incursion.
The researchers said Kremlin officials have recently announced they wanted to take advantage of the suspension of US military aid and intelligence sharing to “inflict maximum damage” to Ukrainian forces in the time they had.
Back on Fox News, Trump also criticised Zelenskyy for taking money from the US “like candy from a baby” – alluding to the Biden administration – and claimed once again that the Ukrainian president had not been “grateful” for America’s support.
The US president then claimed: “Nobody has been tougher on Russia than Donald Trump.”
He added: “Remember, I’m the one that stopped the pipeline – Nord Stream 2.”
During his first term in office, Trump oversaw sanctions against any businesses that contributed to the completion of the natural gas pipeline, going from Russia to Germany.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin seems pleased with the changes Trump has brought in already. Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Russian state TV earlier this month: “The new administration is rapidly changing all foreign policy configurations.”
Trump’s right-hand man and billionaire tech magnate Elon Musk also got into a row over Ukraine on Sunday, as he claimed the “entire front line” would collapse if he turned off his Starlink satellite internet services.
As he called for sanctions on Ukraine’s top ten oligarchs, Musk argued with a social media user who called on him to “stop pretending Putin isn’t the aggressor”.
He replied: “I literally challenged Putin to one on one physical combat over Ukraine and my Starlink system is the backbone of the Ukrainian army. Their entire front line would collapse if I turned it off.
“What I am sickened by is years of slaughter in a stalemate that Ukraine will inevitably lose.”
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