A senior Democratic lawmaker, Senator Jack Reed, accused President Donald Trump of “surrendering to the Russians” due to his recent attacks on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his increased alignment with Russia. Reed made these remarks during an interview on ABC News’ This Week, criticizing Trump for not supporting Ukraine and his admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, senior administration officials dismissed these claims, stating that Trump’s re positioning of US policies on Ukraine, including a potential deal for Ukraine to repay US military and financial support with rare-earth materials, did not constitute a capitulation to Russia’s position on the war.
Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East who recently met with Putin in Moscow, revealed that he spent time developing a friendship with Putin. He declined to blame Russia for starting the war in Ukraine and argued that Ukraine’s ambitions to join NATO were a threat to Russia. Witkoff’s comments came after he, along with other officials, held talks in Saudi Arabia with Russian officials to discuss re-establishing diplomatic relations and a Russia-Ukraine peace deal. Ukrainian officials were not invited to the meeting and later stated that they wouldn’t accept a peace deal imposed on them.
However, after Trump called Zelenskyy a “dictator without elections” who “better move fast or he is not going to have a country left”, Ukraine’s position seemed to shift. On Sunday, Zelenskyy expressed a desire for Trump to be a close partner to Ukraine, rather than just a mediator between the US and Russia, and was willing to step down to secure a lasting peace for his country. Zelenskyy added that he wouldn’t let Putin maintain power over Ukrainian territories.
Russia’s President Putin has appointed Kirill Dmitriev, the chief of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund and a US-savvy member of Russia’s elite, as a special envoy for international economic and investment cooperation with Western nations, including the US. This appointment signals a continuation of Russia’s efforts to strengthen ties with the West.
The US, however, has ruled out NATO membership for Ukraine. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed that no US troops would participate in any future peace-keeping force in Ukraine and refused to assign blame for the start of the conflict. Hegseth argued that finger-pointing and labeling countries as “good” or “bad” was not useful in achieving peace.
The White House has continued to defend Trump’s approach to the conflict, stating that his “peace through strength” diplomacy effectively deterred Russia during his first term and that the war would have never occurred if Trump had not left office. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt added that Trump is “actively pressing both sides to end this brutal conflict once and for all”.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/23/trump-russia-ukraine
