Ukraine and its European allies have long suspected that Donald Trump has a weakness for Vladimir Putin.
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Today, they discover that it is far beyond anything they had imagined.
In a shocking sequence of events, the US president aligned himself with his Russian counterpart, struck a diesel deal, took steps to ease years of sanctions and appeared to sidestep punitive legislation he had signed just a month earlier.
His attacks on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, a recurring feature of life in the White House, have taken on a new bitterness.
The Kremlin, long betting that the Western Front would eventually collapse, seized the opportunity to dangle new joint ventures and launch a trilateral summit between Putin, Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. For Russia, whose economy is showing signs of strain, such a meeting would confer the great power status that Putin has long dreamed of.
Trump says he agrees.
Meanwhile, in Ukraine, sudden restrictions on Starlink, satellite technology controlled by close Trump ally Elon Musk, and unexplained delays in deliveries of U.S.-made weapons have fueled fears that Washington is undermining kyiv for Moscow’s benefit.
“US negotiators have been trying to push Ukraine into capitulation for almost two years,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told the European Parliament earlier this week, in surprisingly undiplomatic terms.
“The reason Ukraine didn’t surrender on Putin’s terms is because Europe supports Ukraine.”
Speaking off the cuff, Kallas expressed the fears that have haunted Ukraine and its European allies since Trump’s re-election — and are now becoming more acute: that, in his relentless pursuit of a grand deal worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize nomination, Trump might be willing to betray Ukraine.
“No one can really understand Trump’s fascination with Putin. He is elevating Putin to a level way beyond what he has any right to – I mean Russia has an economy the size of Italy,” a senior EU official told Euronews.
“It’s all very worrying. It’s terrifying that you send two real estate dealers into a negotiation with Putin, in which they decide to divide a country.”
The remark referred to US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who, like Trump, both made their fortunes in real estate.
The two have caused consternation across Europe following reports that they floated proposals to release frozen Russian assets and resume Russian gas supplies to Europe as an incentive for peace talks. European governments have rejected both ideas.
Witkoff was widely criticized this week after calling Putin a “humanitarian.” Hours later, Russia launched 21 ballistic missiles at kyiv, three of which carried cluster warheads designed to maximize civilian casualties and damage.
“The United States continues to try to lure Putin with lucrative deals if he can resolve the Ukraine problem. But Putin is already one of the richest men in the world. What he wants is to establish a great Russia,” the official added.
“For Europe, we’re just not built to operate in that kind of unforgiving transactional environment.”
Another official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said it was “worrying and frustrating” to hear Trump’s pro-Russia tirades, linked to growing political pressure ahead of next month’s midterm elections.
Republicans are in danger of losing control of the House and Senate as voters become increasingly disillusioned with Trump and inflation takes hold amid high energy prices.
Trump has sought to deflect blame by highlighting Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries, even as energy experts identify its war with Iran as the main factor disrupting global oil markets.
“Until the midterms, it is difficult to draw definitive conclusions from his statements. It seems that we must keep our cool until then,” the second official said.
“It’s obviously much more difficult for Ukraine in practice. But I don’t have the impression that they are on the verge of collapse.”
A Democratic victory would limit Trump’s domestic agenda, but its impact on his foreign policy is less clear. As his latest initiatives demonstrate, the president has considerable latitude to reshape America’s position on the world stage.
Trump’s disdain for Europe and affinity for Russia long predates the current election cycle.
“There is a clear feeling around the table that it is even more important to support Ukraine,” said a senior European diplomat.
“Some optimists hope things will improve after the midterm elections, but I doubt it.”
Trump versus Zelensky
American pressure on Ukraine has been intensifying for at least a year.
In November 2025, a 28-point peace proposal backed by the United States, reportedly drafted in Moscow before being submitted to Washington, called for Ukraine to cede territory, limit the size of its armed forces and permanently renounce its membership in NATO.
European governments quickly closed ranks, seeking to revise proposals they say would leave Ukraine vulnerable to further Russian aggression.
Since then, the divide has widened beyond the terms of a possible peace deal and extends to the military capabilities Ukraine needs to defend itself.
kyiv has accused Washington of delaying deliveries of Patriot interceptor missiles funded by its European allies, interrupting intelligence sharing on incoming Russian ballistic missiles and restricting access to satellite communications.
Ukrainian officials say the moves are aimed at pressuring President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to accept a deal more favorable to Moscow.
The White House has denied imposing restrictions for political reasons. U.S. officials also denied claims that Witkoff and Kushner, the special envoys, threatened to withdraw military and intelligence support unless kyiv made concessions.
The stakes are potentially deadly. Patriot interceptors are among Ukraine’s main defenses against Russian ballistic missiles, while U.S. intelligence provides crucial early warning of impending attacks. The early warning system has since been reinstated.
“Without America, things would be much more difficult for us,” Zelensky told US senators.
In mid-September, Ukrainian government sources told Euronews that Washington would not grant kyiv a license to manufacture Patriot interceptors, effectively ending Ukraine’s ambitions to produce the technology at home.
This happened despite Trump’s earlier public promises to grant Ukraine a production license. Zelensky later said the US president approved the move, although no final licensing deal has been officially confirmed.
The dispute highlights a broader vulnerability for kyiv: its continued dependence on Washington for both arms deliveries and the ability to manufacture critical military technologies.
Pressure has also extended to Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries, which have reduced Moscow’s export capacity and damaged its war revenues.
Trump demanded that Kyiv stop the attacks. Zelensky initially refused, arguing that the strikes represented one of the main sources of pressure on Ukraine.
However, as tensions with Trump escalated, he offered to suspend strikes on refineries for 30 days in exchange for additional Patriot interceptors to protect Ukrainian cities from Russian ballistic missile attacks.
No Patriot interceptors were delivered.
At the same time, Trump intensified his personal attacks against the Ukrainian president, urging kyiv to hold new elections and appoint “someone else” to negotiate with Moscow. Ukraine’s constitution prohibits elections during wartime.
The contrast is particularly striking when it comes to political legitimacy.
In March 2024, the US government led by President Joe Biden rejected the Russian presidential election as neither free nor fair, citing the exclusion of genuine political opposition and voting in the occupied Ukrainian territories.
Yet Trump did not call for new elections in Russia or demand a change of leadership in Moscow. Instead, he invited Putin to attend the G20 summit in December, another overture that sparked concern.
Trump appears uninterested in demanding concessions from Russia, shifting the burden to Ukraine, which he sees as the weaker party. Washington even eased sanctions against Russian diesel without obtaining any change in Moscow’s behavior.
“Let’s be realistic: One is after money, and the other is after glory,” another senior diplomat said, dismissing Trump’s approach to luring Putin with economic partnerships as “useless” because the two ultimately have competing goals.
Europeans are dismayed, but are not yet ready to separate.
After months of dealing with Trump’s outbursts — on tariffs, Greenland, the ICC, big tech and other flashpoints — European leaders have adjusted their approach to the mercurial president. Not all Truth Social posts warrant a public response, officials say privately.
The strategy remains threefold: support Ukraine, put pressure on Russia and dialogue with the United States, all at the same time. Europe must retain its place at the negotiating table to influence Washington’s thinking as much as possible, even if it means enduring pain and swallowing pride.
This week offered a good example.
As tensions between Trump and Zelensky threatened to fester, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Finnish President Alexander Stubb hastily arranged a new round of peace talks in Oslo before Witkoff flew to Moscow.
“We completely understand that there was a lot of noise in the public space,” Stubb said, in a not-so-subtle reference to the argument.
“In my experience, peace requires patience. But unfortunately, war does not wait.”
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