By Stephen Macaulay
The following was written before the Ukrainian government agreed to a cease-fire and the US allowed the Ukrainian military resumed access to intelligence assets. But for all that, the following still stands. What did the Russian government do in response to the proposed cease fire? Well, for one thing, Putin got dressed up in military fatigues and visited some of the troops. For another, the attacks on Ukraine amped up.
So how will the thesis in the headline be realized?
Putin will remain recalcitrant. There will be no going back. Trump will claim that Putin has “all the cards” and consequently what he wants — including the ceding of the territory the Russians have taken, the prohibition of Ukraine becoming a member of NATO, no peace keeping troops in Ukraine, etc. — is what will be agreed to.
There should be little doubt that at the end of the day, Donald Trump wants Russia, the country that invaded a democracy — the sort of place Americans used to defend -- to win the conflict in Ukraine.
Why? Probably because he likes the style of the Russian leader.
Never mind that Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin is charged by the International Criminal Court as being “Allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population (children) and that of unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation (under articles 8(2)(a)(vii) and 8(2)(b)(viii) of the Rome Statute).”
The charge continues:
“There are reasonable grounds to believe that Mr. Putin bears individual criminal responsibility for the aforementioned crimes, (i) for having committed the acts directly, jointly with others and/or through others (article 25(3)(a) of the Rome Statute), and (ii) for his failure to exercise control properly over civilian and military subordinates who committed the acts, or allowed for their commission, and who were under his effective authority and control, pursuant to superior responsibility (article 28(b) of the Rome Statute).”
Oh, but the International Criminal Court is an international organization and we want nothing to do with the rest of the world unless it is in the financial interest of America.
Deporting children? Who cares?
What’s more, Jack Smith, that “deranged” “Trump hater” “crooked individual” (but just a few of the things Trump has called him), worked at the International Criminal Court, so that place must be rife with bad, bad hombres. Everyone says so.
The Russians have amped up their attacks on Ukraine.
What has the reaction of the Trump Administration been?
It stopped military aid and stopped intelligence sharing with Ukraine.
Why?
Because Trump wants Volodymyr Zelenskyy to lose face and his idol Vladimir Putin to gain land.
Just consider this, from the official White House transcript of a press gaggle on Air Force One, March 9, 2025:
Q Sir, on Russia. Have you made a final decision about what sanctions or tariffs you might impose on Russia and when that might be?
THE PRESIDENT: We’re looking at a lot of things. We have big meetings coming up, as you know, in Saudi Arabia. That’s going to include Russia. It’ll be Ukraine. We’ll see if we can get something done. I’d like to get something done.
A lot of people died this week, as you know, in Ukraine. Not only Ukrainians, but Russians. So, I think everybody wants to see it get done. We’re going to make a lot of progress, I believe, this week.
Q Mr. President, is Putin disrespecting you by attacking Ukraine when you’re trying to make peace there?
THE PRESIDENT: Who? Who?
Q Is President Putin disrespecting you by attacking Ukraine when you’re trying to make peace there?
THE PRESIDENT: What did he do?
Q Well, he’s attacked Ukraine.
THE PRESIDENT: Is he disrespecting me?
Q Yeah.
THE PRESIDENT: Who are you with?
Q I’m Michael Birnbaum, with The Washington Post.
THE PRESIDENT: You’ve lost a lot of credibility. Go ahead. What else?
Notice how Trump deflects any potential criticism of Putin and then minimizes, in his own mind, the reporter. How has the reporter, or the Post, lost credibility by asking a simple question that deserves an answer?
Later, questions from others:
Q Are you going to resume aid to Ukraine if they sign the minerals deal with you?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think they will sign the minerals deal. But we want them to —
I want them to want peace. Right now.
Q How do they show that? How do they show that?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, right now, they haven’t shown it to the extent that they should. I think, right now, they haven’t, but I think they will be, and I think it’s going to become evident over the next two or three days. I think eventually, look, we have to have peace.
And I’m doing this — money is one thing. We’re going to lose — we spent $350 billion on this. But the big thing: human life. Thousands of people — this week — thousands of young soldiers died this week. Hundreds of people died in cities in Ukraine. And we got to get it stopped.
It would have never happened if I was president. And it didn’t happen. This was not going to happen.
Trump wants Ukraine to give up rights to its minerals to pay the US back for the military and other assistance provided to the country still under attack.
Why doesn’t he stipulate that Putin should have to pay for rebuilding the cities he’s wrecked in Ukraine?
The Ukrainians haven’t shown their interest in peace “to the extent that they should”?
Might the missiles raining down on their land from Russian have something to do with this?
“It would have never happened if I was president.”
What would have never happened? That the Ukrainians wouldn’t have defended themselves? That they would have been invaded and then thanked Putin for the invasion?
“Putin went through a hell of a lot with me,” Trump said during the exchange with Zelenskyy in the Oval Office on March 3. He was referring to the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election.
Zelenskyy and the citizens of Ukraine are going through literal hell.
Macaulay is pundit-at-large for The Hustings.