Trump Is Considered To Take A Tougher Approach To Russia To End Ukraine's War

The impact of the Russian attack on Ukraine/PHOTO via X@ ZelenskyyUa

JAKARTA - President Donald Trump is considered to have taken a tougher approach to Russia to secure the ceasefire he promised in office after becoming "very aligned" with Ukraine.

Kurt Volker, Trump's adviser to Ukraine in his first term and former US Ambassador to the NATO military alliance, told Reuters the US leader began his second term by challenging Russian President Vladimir Putin to secure peace either "in an easy or difficult way".

Now, after 100 days of his term as president passed and Putin has shown little desire to end the war against Ukraine, Trump is increasingly taking a "difficult path", Volker said on the sidelines of a security conference in Kyiv.

"I think Ukraine has an interest in ending the fighting, and now the US and Ukraine are completely allied, it shows how Putin is completely unwilling to end the war," Volker, who stepped down as his adviser in 2019 after being mentioned in a whistleblower complaint about Trump's administration. reported by Reuters on Thursday, May 8.

"That's right," he replied when asked if Trump was now taking a difficult path, instead of an easy path, adding Congress should strengthen the position of US leader by approving secondary sanctions against major entities in Russia.

After a disaster-causing meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in February, the two have gone to great lengths to improve the situation.

The two countries signed a mineral deal in Washington last month granting the United States special access to a new mineral deal from Ukraine.

For Trump, Volker said it was "politically important" because it allowed him to show his supporters that Ukraine paid its own costs rather than using US taxpayers' money.

While Ukraine hopes the deal, which will be decided by vote in parliament on Thursday, will open new US arms shipments, at this stage, Trump is reluctant to talk about "military sides" while he tries to persuade Putin to end the fighting.

However, that doesn't mean military aid won't come.

"So, from a security perspective, it gives the US an interest in Ukraine's prosperity, economic development, security and survival," Volker said.

"It does not say what kind of obligation or commitment the US will make to Ukraine's security. However, it also doesn't prevent anything."