White House Indecisiveness Threatens Europe and Ukraine’s Security

After 141 days of failed ceasefire negotiations between Ukraine and Russia led by the United States – namely Retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, Special Envoy Steven Witkoff, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio – President Donald Trump is acting more like a disinterested third party than the leader of the free world.

Shortly after Ukrainian attack drones, concealed in Russian cargo trucks, destroyed 34 percent of the Russian strategic bomber fleet used to launch cruise missile attacks against Ukrainian cities, the President reached out to Putin.

The call, as noted by Lev Parnas, took more of a conciliatory tone: “Instead of calling [Ukrainian] President [Volodymyr] Zelensky to offer congratulations or solidarity, Trump called Russia to console them. He expressed frustration with Ukraine – not Russia – for what he described as failing to inform him about the airfield attacks… Trump didn’t call the victim, he called the aggressor. And he came back from the call echoing the Kremlin’s position – not America’s.”

In the call, the president said that Putin told him “very strongly, that he will have to respond to the recent attack on the airfields,” adding “it’s probably not going to be pretty.” The president acknowledged the comment, but made no mention of trying to sway Putin from the decision.

For the Kremlin, that omission provided tacit permission to retaliate against Ukraine. On June 6 – a day best known for the heroic actions of allied troops on the beaches of Normandy – Putin’s military cowardly launched another massive bombardment of cities throughout Ukraine with 407 strike drones and 45 missiles, killing nine civilians and wounding 80.

The Russian Defense Ministry announced the assault was launched “in response to the terrorist acts” of Ukraine.

Shortly after the strike, President Trump commented, “They [Ukraine] gave them [Russia] reason to go and bomb the hell out of them last night.”

But what the President fails to comprehend is that this was not a Russian retaliatory strike; rather, an extension of Russian tactics targeting Ukrainian civilians in their homes to instill fear – the very definition of terrorism.

Russia deliberately strikes civilian targets while Ukraine strikes Russian weapon systems and the platforms from where they are delivered. They also target the Kremlin’s ability to wage and fund the war.

The President’s disdain for Zelensky is alarming for European leaders, while his inability to recognize that Putin is the “root cause” of Moscow’s “special military operation” adds to their concerns.

Trump’s so-called bromance with Putin, coupled with his misguided pursuit of economic deals with Russia to “create massive amounts of jobs and wealth” is clouding his judgement.

Just last March the president told Laura Ingraham, “Putin actually said to me, ‘If you don’t mind, friend, I hate to see you as my enemy.’ He said it very strongly.”

The Russian President had Trump at “friend” – a lesson learned from the Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu. In his book The Art of War, Sun Tzu teaches, “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.”

Putin knows Trump; every phone call leaves the President convinced Zelensky is the problem and further support to Ukraine is not the best interest of the US. The White House’s post phone call actions give credence to that line of reasoning.

Pentagon and President gone AWOL

On June 3, the Pentagon abruptly announced that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth would neither attend nor remotely participate in the 57-member Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting in Brussels. The group has collectively provided Ukraine with over $126 billion in weapons and military assistance, including $66.5 billion from the US.

On June 4, Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS), Chairman, Senate Committee on Armed Services, said that the President asked Senate Majority Leader John Thune not to bring a bipartisan Russia sanctions bill – introduced on April 1 by Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), that seeks to impose a 500% tariff on imports from countries that continue purchasing Russian oil and raw materials – to a vote this week.

According to the Wall Street Journal, on Friday the White House and other administration officials contacted Graham’s office “urging him to water down his bill, namely by inserting waivers that would allow Trump to choose who or what gets sanctioned,” and changing the word “shall” to “may” wherever it appears in the bill’s text, removing mandatory nature of the prescribed reprimands, congressional aides said.

And while Ukraine has held their own in the close fight, they are insufficiently armed to defend against the daily drone, ballistic and cruise missile attacks on their cities. Making matters worse, the Trump administration recently redirected key anti-drone technology earmarked away from Ukraine to US Air Force units in the Middle East.

In an address to the Ukrainian people on June 7, Zelensky said, “We are working to strengthen Ukraine’s air defense. We urgently need positive signals from the United States – concrete signals regarding air defense systems. We are still waiting for a response to our request to purchase systems that can help – concrete signals, not words.”

For Russia, peace is obtained when Ukraine stops resisting and Zelensky is no longer the president. For that to happen, Putin needs for the West to stop supplying military assistance to Zelensky. He has been successful in slow-rolling the White House effort; however, Europe has become the stumbling block, led by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who just concluded his visit to the US and left feeling “optimistic.”

Furthermore, on June 6 the Baltic States issued a joint statement reaffirming their support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity – “supporting Ukraine until its full victory including the liberation of all temporarily occupied territories, accountability for war crimes, and full implementation of international justice” – and their pursuit of European Union and NATO membership.

So nothing has really changed, except for the amount of military assistance coming from the US. As Russia reoccupies and fortifies military bases along their border with Finland, and contemplates deploying 10,000 troops to Transnistria, Old NATO and New NATO realize their fate likely rests on the outcome of the Ukraine war.

As Zelensky told ABC News’ Martha Raddatz Sunday evening, “We don’t really know if they will stop this war.”

But we do. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov made that clear in April when he said that “Russia will accept nothing less than total victory over Ukraine.”

Deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev later boasted: “The Russian army is pushing forward and will continue to advance… Everything that needs to be blown up will be blown up, and those who must be eliminated will be.”

President Trump needs to be part of the solution – he cannot take a neutral position and watch how this all plays out. It is time to get back on board with our European allies and stand-up to the Russian threat or the killing he despises will continue.

Simple fact – the killing stops when Russia stops attacking.

But they will not. Last night the Kremlin launched another 500 drones and 20 missiles of various types into central and western Ukraine – again targeting civilians.

And Ukraine keeps on keeping on. As of June 9, Russian casualties are rapidly approaching the one million mark – 997,120.

The views expressed in this opinion article are the author’s and not necessarily those of Kyiv Post.

Copyright 2025. Jonathan E. Sweet and Mark C. Toth. All rights reserved.