The trilateral meeting with Putin and Xi, sanctions lifted, anger directed at Zelensky. Trump is making Kyiv pay for his mistakes

The telephone call between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin on 9 October changed everything for Ukraine: since then, the US president has decided to lift sanctions on Russian diesel, has carried out the most dangerous threat to Ukraine – namely, reducing the sharing of intelligence on Russian missile strikes against Ukrainian cities and on the front line – has eased further sanctions on Russia and is considering – as revealed yesterday by the Wall Street Journal – holding a meeting with the Russian president and the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, in an anti-Ukrainian and anti-European trilateral summit. 

At present, according to sources at the American newspaper and statements by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Kremlin, discussions are still ongoing regarding the feasibility of the meeting, which could take place during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit scheduled for 18 and 19 November in Shenzhen. This is not the first time this idea has been mooted, as the Wall Street Journal points out, but now the Russian proposal “comes at a time when the balance of power in Moscow’s relations with Washington has shifted”, that is to say, it favours Putin and is hostile to Kyiv, whilst “a possible three-way dialogue on Chinese soil would mark an important step for Xi in his attempt to strengthen China’s role as a diplomatic mediator, according to analysts who study China”.

In short, it is a trilateral agreement that would enshrine the diplomatic and political objectives of America, Russia and China at the expense of Ukraine and Europe; and the price of this convergence is clearly being borne entirely by Ukraine today, which is suffering massive daily attacks from the Russians, has had to revise its operations on the front line due to the sporadic information provided by Starlink satellites, and is measuring the American about-turn in terms of death tolls and thwarted defence operations. Trump regards the Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries as an irresponsible act, proof that Volodymyr Zelensky ‘does not want to end this war and perhaps never did’, but they have emerged as a further weapon in Ukraine’s defence arsenal, the so-called ‘long-range sanctions’, which have become necessary given that Western sanctions have been slow to take effect and the proceeds from the sale of energy resources have continued to fuel Putin’s ruthless war machine. Trump ignores the Russian missile barrage on Ukrainian cities and claims to have scaled back sanctions against Moscow because this is the only way to keep the dialogue with the Russian president open and bring the war to an end; but in reality, this is a way of allowing Russia’s bellicose fury – which aims to exterminate the Ukrainians – to be unleashed even further.

While Western debate is focused on Zelensky, on his condemnation of the American ‘mistake’ – which some find too provocative – and on his legitimacy as president – a classic trope of the Putin-Trump axis – the words the American president has begun to use against Ukraine explain his about-turn and his lies. Trump wants the price of diesel to fall because its high cost is undermining the Republican Party’s campaign for the mid-term elections: Trump’s popularity is very low even in predominantly conservative constituencies, and an increasing number of candidates are no longer begging for his ‘magic touch’ and are struggling to explain his tariff policy and the mismanagement of the war against Iran. Trump, on the contrary, wants to convey the message that it is the Ukrainians, with their war, who are the cause of the ‘great suffering’ of many Americans.

In his post on Truth on Sunday – one of his most explicit and appalling to date – Trump claims that farmers and business owners are struggling due to Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries, whilst Moscow is distributing its fuel at affordable prices to provide relief. He adds that a great deal—far too much—money has already been spent (by the Democratic administration) on Ukraine, which is tantamount to saying: I will save you this money, which Zelensky is wasting anyway. Third point: Trump says he must keep the dialogue with Putin open because ‘Russia is doing very little, if anything, to help the Islamic Republic of Iran compared to what it could be doing, and I want things to stay that way’. The U.S. president not only pretends that the numerous reports from his own intelligence services regarding Moscow’s active support for Tehran in targeting American interests do not exist, but he also dismisses the assistance the Ukrainians have offered to their Gulf allies in countering Iranian drones – which, unfortunately, they know all too well.

There are those who hope that, following the mid-term elections, this mendacious about-turn will be readjusted in a manner less hostile towards Ukraine, but dissenting voices have all but disappeared amongst Trump supporters, even in the face of a disastrous trilateral agreement that excludes Ukrainians and Europeans whilst including all of America’s enemies.