LOS ANGELES.–President Donald Trump, 79, looks poised to placate war hawks on Capitol Hill, deciding to sell Patriot missiles to NATO to supply Ukraine. Trump has grown frustrated with the slow progress of a ceasefire and peace talks to end the Ukraine War. While Trump makes a big concession to let NATO buy Patriot Missiles for Ukraine, he wants 72-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin to know he’s serious about resetting U.S.-Russia relations from four years of disaster under former President Joe Biden. Trump has no intent to escalate the war or prolong peace talks any longer that necessary but because Putin decided to hit Ukrainian cities hard with drones and ballistic missiles, he thought it was appropriate action. Trump has not decided whether to endorse the punitive economic sanctions sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) to pressure Putin into a ceasefire.
Trump promised during his 2024 campaign to end the Ukraine War in short order but, more importantly, to reestablish normal diplomatic relations with the Russian Federation. Since Biden decided to fund proxy war with the Kremlin in Ukraine, U.S.-Russian relations deteriorated to the lowest point since WW II, far worse than the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Every U.S. president since WW II has worked hard to get along with Russia, especially when it came to arms control and global cooperation. Biden decided in funding proxy war in Ukraine to end U.S. Russian relations. So, when Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at the South Asean Conference, they committed themselves to find a way to end the Ukraine War. Trump doesn’t want to antagonize Putin to supply more weapons to Ukraine.
Trump’s decision to let NATO buy Patriot Missiles from the Pentagon is not a change in Trump’s policy toward Russia, it’s a humanitarian attempt to help Ukraine deal with the current battering by the Russian Federation. Putin has his own way to getting to the peace table, letting Ukraine’ 47-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky know that if he wants war, he’ll get war. So, after all the conversations with Trump about finding an off-ramp in Ukraine, Putin opted to escalate attacks on Ukraine to bring Zelensky to the peace table. Trump didn’t like that because of the death and destruction happening in Ukraine. Trump wanted Putin to deescalate while his envoys Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg worked out an acceptable ceasefire and peace plan. But since Putin put Ukraine under increasing attack, Trump decided to let NATO buy Patriot Missiles to re-supply Ukraine.
Trump wanted Putin to know that it’s not sending weapons directly to Ukraine but selling them to NATO to supply Patriot Missiles to defend against Russian air assaults. Trump wants no part of Biden’s proxy war with the Kremlin and only reluctantly lets NATO buy Patriot Missiles to supply Ukraine. Trump got frustrated recently with his phone calls with Putin thinking they were on the same page about ending the over three-year conflict. Trump wasn’t happy that Putin doubled-down on his attacks with Ukraine when Trump wanted him to do the opposite. Trump has enough problems dealing with Zelensky who’s decided he doesn’t want to trade land-for-peace, throwing a monkey wrench into ceasefire and peace plans. But when it comes Putin, Trump thought he would have paused his military operations at least enough to open up the door to peace talks.
Reported in the fake news, Trump’s enemies in the press accused him of another flip-flop on his Ukraine policy. He was strident over the last six months that he would not escalate the conflict by supplying Ukraine any more weapons. Trump changed U.S. Ukraine policy of officially stop funding proxy war with the Kremlin. Zelensky threw a fit in the Oval Office Feb. 28 when Trump said he was restoring normal U.S. diplomatic relations with Moscow. Zelensky couldn’t fathom the idea that Trump was Ukraine’s ally while making peace with the Kremlin. Zelensky never understood or cared that the U.S. had a long history of diplomacy, détente, arms control and global cooperation with Moscow. Only with Biden, did the U.S. abandon the long tradition since WW II of finding common ground and working on global cooperation with Russia.
Striking a deal for NATO to buy Patriot Missiles from the Pentagon to supply Ukraine is not a change in U.S. policy toward the Ukraine War. Trump will not pay for Ukraine’s weapons, only let NATO buy the weapons from the Pentagon. Fake news called Trump policy a reversal from his previous policy of denying Ukraine more U.S. cash-and-arms to battle the Kremlin. Putin knows that Trump wants to end the Ukraine War at the earliest possible time, mainly to stop the unnecessary bloodshed and destruction to both sides. Trump’s concession to allow NATO to buy Patriot Missiles to supply Ukraine seeks to maintain his policy of restoring normal U.S.-Russian relations. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke for hours at the Asean summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, committing themselves to find a way to end the Ukraine War.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
