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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsUkraine Has Written Off the United States
Zelensky has stopped pretending that Trump might be an ally.
By Phillips Payson OBrien
April 18, 2026, 6 AM ET
For more than a year after Donald Trump returned to the White House, Ukraine held out hopeat least publiclyof winning him over. Trump, who revealed his affection for Russias Vladimir Putin again and again, largely halted American military aid to Kyiv. He insulted Ukrainian leaders regularly, personally berating President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office in February 2025. Nevertheless, Ukraine diligently took part in Trumps peace negotiations, which were tilted to reward Putins invasion and turned out to be fruitless. Zelensky agreed to mineral deals that supposedly promised to enrich Americans. He even lavishly praised Trump himself. Despite Ukrainian leaders growing doubts, they calculated that speaking sweetly of the American president would do no harm and just might gain his favor.
But now Kyiv appears to have given up on the United States. It is aggressively seeking new diplomatic and military partnersfor instance, by sharing its hard-won expertise in drone warfare with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates and forging arms-production agreements with Germany. Ukraine has sent drones to attack oil-export facilities near St. Petersburg, deep inside enemy territory, in defiance of what Zelensky called signals from unspecified partners to avoid striking Russian energy infrastructure.
Using language that would until recently have been unthinkable, Zelensky has indicated that he no longer views the United States as a reliable ally and, even more astonishingly, that all of Europe needs to start moving on from the transatlantic relationship.
In an effort to keep energy prices from spiking further amid the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, the Trump administration eased sanctions on Russian oil producers and sellers. In an interview last week with Italian radio, Zelensky criticized that decision. In my view, Russia played the Americans againplayed the president of the United States, he said. (The sanctions waiver expired earlier this week.) Lest anyone outside Italy miss his point, Zelensky amplified an English-language version of his comments on X.
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https://archive.is/2026.04.18-101333/https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/04/ukraine-trump-us-oil-russia/686854/
dalton99a
(94,684 posts)Scrivener7
(59,784 posts)FakeNoose
(41,936 posts)"Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea culpa" for the next 40 years! That's going to be us.
BidenRocks
(3,373 posts)Good luck!
Trueblue1968
(19,279 posts)marble falls
(72,081 posts)... to have admit.
Scrivener7
(59,784 posts)however imperfectly they executed that wish.
No one can trust us, so no one is going to touch us with a ten foot pole after this.
newdeal2
(5,501 posts)He is a realist but also doesnt want to turn his country over to Putin.
Prairie Gates
(8,298 posts)spanone
(141,826 posts)Greedy bastard trump would rather support his daddy
Fiendish Thingy
(23,455 posts)Soon they will get everything they need from the EU, and in return, the EU will benefit from access to Ukraines rare earth metal deposits, wheat, and other resources.
One more tombstone in the Trump graveyard of failures.
True Dough
(26,921 posts)because he is a Putin puppet.
SLAVA UKRAINI!
multigraincracker
(37,804 posts)Tank you Hillary for nailing it.
Diamond_Dog
(40,765 posts)His ouster cannot come soon enough. We will have so much to repair in the USA it will take a decade or more. We are already being written off in the eyes of the world and our standard of living keeps sinking ..
Wounded Bear
(64,432 posts)and the opportunity to grift in Ukraine has dried up.
yaesu
(9,375 posts)niyad
(133,086 posts)existential threat. Ukraine will do what it must to survive.
ChicagoTeamster
(1,069 posts)They can still freeze Russian assets and sanction American banks that allow transactions trading Russian commodities.
bluestarone
(22,305 posts)First thought in my mind when this BASTARD won the election. I feel so let down because our Allies and Ukraine are taking a hit!! God Dam RETHUGS are destroying us.
KentuckyWoman
(7,411 posts)Even our financial markets. It would be gawd awful for us, but the rest of the world would be better off. Clearly, the crazy train that is the US over the last decade or two is driving right off the cliff. Nobody seems to be interested is stopping it and I don't understand why.
electric_blue68
(26,980 posts)Joinfortmill
(21,352 posts)Wish Putin would dump the goods on Donald. Maybe he will once Donald is out of office or maybe he'll do it just for shits and giggles.
krawhitham
(5,075 posts)WASHINGTON The U.S. Treasury Department on Friday extended its pause on sanctions on Russian oil shipments to ease shortages from the Iran war, days after Secretary Scott Bessent ruled out such a move.
The so-called general license means U.S. sanctions will not apply for 30 days on deliveries of Russian oil that has been loaded on tankers as of Friday. It extended a similar 30-day license issued in March for Russian oil that had been loaded by March 11.
The extension underscores how the fallout from the Iran war has boosted Moscows ability to profit from its energy exports, which had been restrained since the invasion of Ukraine.
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/18/us-extends-waiver-on-russian-oil-sanctions-to-ease-iran-war-shortages-despite-bessent-denial-00879923
Bev54
(13,465 posts)themaguffin
(5,271 posts)ck4829
(37,942 posts)JI7
(93,740 posts)It shouldn't just be the US and China .
We can still have allies but need to consider if something like Trump comes along . All the attempt at ass kissing of Trump and trying to work with him is not something they should ever do.
Exp
(986 posts)good grudge go to waste.
NBachers
(19,493 posts)orangecrush
(30,643 posts)It was inevitable.
electric_blue68
(26,980 posts)Including this one, favoring Putin over President Zelensky/Ukraine.
SLAVA UKRAINI!
Javaman
(65,866 posts)Amaryllis
(11,340 posts)alliances all over; just this past week with Italy, Germany, Norway. Ukraine is now viewed as having a great deal to offer in military expertise.
Initech
(108,943 posts)Fuck Putin, fuck Trump, and fuck Netanyahu.
Response to littlemissmartypants (Original post)
Name removed Message auto-removed
CaptainTruth
(8,230 posts)Emrys
(9,168 posts)Hopefully this will once and for all put the kibosh on the idea that Ukraine has to gift Putin with territory he's failed to "win" through war. The only enthusiastic proponents of that scheme were Trump and his cronies and a few half-assed nominal Ukraine supporters or blatant fellow travellers of Russia. Putin would no doubt have been glad of the gift, but there's no reason to imagine it would have led to a sustained end to hostilities, quite the reverse.
But as for writing off the United States, I think that's throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Despite the spiteful rhetoric and actions from Trump, and especially Vance, along with others among Trump's cabal, we know that American public opinion has consistently favoured supporting Ukraine by substantial margins. The next Congress is likely to be far less slavishly loyal to Trump, and ways could be found to offer concrete support and fewer favours to Putin, and maybe start undoing some of the harm Trump's tried to do in the last couple of years.
Meanwhile, it will be no bad thing if the rest of NATO and Ukraine's allies work to be far less dependent on the US's agenda and firepower.
blue-wave
(5,359 posts)The definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Zelenskyy did his due diligence. There is no point moving forward in an attempt to win over the king with no clothes.
It is sad and tragic for both countries but Ukraine will fair much better from breaking ties with the U.S. We are losing a battle tested ally with a populace that has the perseverance and intelligence to defeat a nemesis with greater numbers in people, equipment and treasure. Ukraine will win and survive and thrive. The United States will have to scramble and on bended knee ask for a second chance with the great ally we once had, Ukraine.
It's all about the money Trump thinks he'll make by being Putin's friend. What he doesn't understand is that Putin screws over everyone in his circle. Yes, he'll even do it to Trump and hand-over-his-heart Witkoff and Kushner. There in no honor amongst thieves.
Aussie105
(8,029 posts)Away from the US.
So too are trade arrangements.
Despite decades of the US saying 'You need us, global stability depends on us!', it is all shifting away.
Thank you Mr Trump!
Johonny
(26,343 posts)We need to wake up and dump the pile of shit.