Washington [US], September 28: Last week, US President Donald Trump showed a significant change in his stance on the Ukraine conflict, while increasing criticism and pressure on Russia.
According to The Wall Street Journal yesterday morning (September 27), during his meeting with President Trump on the sidelines of the recent UN General Assembly, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked Washington to provide Tomahawk missiles to Kyiv. The information was cited by Ukrainian officials and two other sources related to the meeting.
Trump's "U-turn"
Regarding the above issue, the White House is said to be considering the above proposal. Not only that, although not yet committed, President Trump informed his counterpart Zelensky that the White House is ready to lift restrictions on Kyiv's use of long-range weapons produced by the US to attack inside Russia. If the above proposal is approved, Mr. Trump is considered to have changed his strategy compared to his predecessor Joe Biden. In August, President Trump criticized his predecessor for not allowing Ukraine to attack deep into Russian territory.
In fact, in recent days, President Trump has significantly changed his views on the Ukraine conflict. In February, Mr. Trump asserted that President Zelensky "has no cards" and must "make a deal" that involves extensive concessions to the Kremlin. But now, the owner of the White House has just declared that Ukraine is "in a fighting position and will take back all of Ukraine in its original form." He also believes that Russia is just a "paper tiger", with a declining economic situation and has not achieved the military position as set out in the goals on the Ukrainian battlefield.
Such a change in perspective may stem from the fact that Mr. Trump once shared that he was "disappointed" with Russian President Vladimir Putin after the summit between the two in Alaska (USA) did not lead to any significant positive developments for the peace prospects in Ukraine. Currently, the US is increasing pressure on India for buying crude oil from Russia - which Mr. Trump believes helps Moscow have resources to continue the war in Ukraine. In addition, when meeting Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan recently, the White House owner urged the country to stop buying oil from Russia, in exchange for the US selling the 5th generation stealth fighter F-35. The F-35 order was frozen by the US after Türkiye bought the S-400 air defense missile system from Russia.
More tensely, in response to the incident of Russian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) violating the airspace of some NATO allies, President Trump has just declared that NATO should shoot down Russian aircraft if they violate airspace.
Is the pressure enough?
Responding to Thanh Nien yesterday (September 27), US military intelligence expert Carl O. Schuster (former head of NATO military intelligence in the Balkans) pointed out: "President Trump is raising taxes on some countries such as China and India, while also pressuring European allies to reduce purchases of Russian oil and natural gas. President Trump is pushing US European allies to buy weapons and ammunition to strengthen the fighting power of the Ukrainian army. He is also pushing NATO as an organization and some member states to deploy forces and take action against Russia's intrusion into the airspace of Poland and other NATO members. President Trump is calling on neighboring countries that support Russia such as Belarus, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Moldova to reduce cooperation with Moscow."
However, the expert said: "The chances of the White House occupant succeeding in all these efforts are very low, but the overall effect will be to weaken Russia's economy and military capabilities, increasing the economic costs for the Russian people and the Moscow government. This benefits Ukraine militarily and politically, and may increase Moscow's military difficulties - which may erode domestic support. This will pressure the Kremlin to focus more on its own security and perhaps consider a ceasefire in the spring of 2026."
In fact, despite having some advantages on the battlefield, Russia has not achieved a breakthrough to establish a border buffer zone in northern Ukraine. On the other hand, the war has caused Russia great economic difficulties, and it no longer has enough resources for other issues. Typically, Russia could not do anything when the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia broke out in 2023. Because of that, Moscow was recently excluded from the Azerbaijan-Armenia peace process. Therefore, the pressure that President Putin is facing is not small.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
