The Ukraine-Russia war continues to rage, taking an increasingly dangerous and destructive course as Vladimir Putin intensifies his assault with a relentless barrage of drones and missiles. What has emboldened the Kremlin is not just its own militaristic obsession but the equivocal stance of US President Donald Trump, whose unpredictable rhetoric undermines the moral clarity the world needs. Trump has rarely taken a firm position on the war or, for that matter, on any key issue. His statements are often contradictory—supportive one moment, dismissive the next. This strategic ambiguity has sent a dangerous signal to Putin: that the world’s most powerful democracy might be indifferent to Ukraine’s fate. For a leader like Putin, who has built his career on war, this is a green light. Come to think of it, war is not a burden for Putin—it is a defining feature. He rose from obscurity during the Second Chechen War in 1999, transforming from an unknown KGB officer into the most dominant Russian leader since the Soviet era. Since then, he has waged wars in Georgia, Syria, and twice in Ukraine. In his worldview, wars are won or lost—and losing means political death.
But this time, Ukraine has not rolled over. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, once dismissed as a lightweight, has become a wartime leader of remarkable staying power. Western analysts who expected Kyiv to fall within weeks in early 2022 were quickly proven wrong. Each mile gained by Russia has come at an enormous cost in lives and treasure, undermining the myth of an unstoppable Russian war machine. True, the Russian war economy has seen some temporary boosts—factories revived, soldiers paid—but the human toll has been staggering. For Putin, these casualties are just the cost of an imperial ambition. His goals are clear: isolate Ukraine, freeze its NATO aspirations, and keep it firmly under Moscow’s thumb.
Yet, Ukraine has not yielded. The recent show of solidarity during Zelenskyy’s visit to Germany underscored that Europe remains resolute in its support. The same cannot be said for the US, where Trump’s transactional view of foreign policy reduces Ukraine’s sovereignty to a balance sheet. Air defence systems, in his eyes, are liabilities, not commitments. Still, three years into the war, neither side has achieved anything close to a decisive victory. What remains is death, destruction, and displacement. The only rational path forward is a sustained and enforceable ceasefire. But that will not happen if global powers continue to blur the lines between aggressor and victim. It is time the US, irrespective of leadership, adopts a diplomacy of clarity and principle. Only then can the guns fall silent, and peace have a chance.
