Donald Trump asked Russian President Vladimir Putin for advice when deciding on whether to send arms to Ukraine early during his presidency in 2017, the New York Times (NYT) reported on Oct. 5, citing undisclosed U.S. officials.
Trump's views on Ukraine are causing concern among Kyiv's supporters as the ex-president seeks re-election this November, sparking fears of reduced military support amid the full-scale Russian invasion.
At the start of Trump's term in office, the Kremlin's chief was aptly using Trump's prejudices against Ukraine to undermine Washington's support for Kyiv, the NYT wrote, citing memoir accounts, U.S. and European officials, and Trump's allies.
Defeating his Democratic challenger, Hillary Clinton, in 2016, the Republican candidate reportedly entered office with a "dim view" of Ukraine, suspecting the country's leadership of favoring the Democrats.
Putin used these views to try to shape Trump's overall stance on aiding Ukraine during their first face-to-face meeting in Hamburg, Germany, on July 7, 2017, the NYT reported.
James Greenwood
Trump allegedly asked Putin what he thought about the possibility of sending U.S. weapons to Ukraine, which was at the time fighting Russian and Russian proxy forces in the eastern region of Donbas.
The Russian president responded it would be a "mistake," forcing Trump's team to come up with ways to "change the president's mind on Ukraine" after the meeting, according to the outlet.
Nevertheless, during his presidential term of 2017-2021, Trump approved the first sale of Javelin anti-tank launchers to Ukraine.
Trump's suspected animosity toward Ukraine was later linked to Kyiv's role in the first – and unsuccessful – impeachment against the U.S. president in 2019.
The impeachment trial was centered around a phone call between Trump and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky in which the U.S. president was accused of withholding military aid to pressure Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden.
Trump's history with Ukraine can play a major role in his foreign policy should he return to the White House. The ex-president has promised to end Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine within a day if elected but has not publicly elaborated on how he plans to achieve that. One plan reportedly involves ceding territory to Russia.
Trump met Zelensky during the latter's visit to the U.S. at the end of September, during which he touted his supposed "good relationship" with both the Ukrainian and Russian presidents.
Repeating similar comments made at a joint press conference in advance of their meeting, Trump told the Washington Post that he liked Zelensky "because during the impeachment hoax…he could have said he didn't know the (conversation) was taped…But instead of grandstanding and saying, 'Yes, I felt threatened,' he said, 'He did absolutely nothing wrong.'"
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