Moscow, Washington vs. Kyiv: Can Trump Force Ukraine to Capitulate?
US President Donald Trump’s recent statements are aligning with those coming from the Kremlin. What does this new Moscow-Washington alliance of convenience mean, and will these situational allies succeed in forcing Ukraine to capitulate to Russia?
On October 13, new US proposals for a peace agreement emerged after Donald Trump's recent statements aligned with those of the Kremlin. The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) has been counterattacking and liberating settlements in the Donbas region, which Putin has deemed a key objective. Trump partially lifted energy sanctions on Russia and announced an agreement to import diesel fuel from Russia to the US.
Meanwhile, Trump demanded that Ukraine stop striking Russian oil refineries and called for "no strikes on oil refining facilities." Under the guise of a peace plan, Trump threatened Ukraine with the installation of a new president if it refused to sign a peace agreement, despite Ukraine having only one oil refinery that Russia had already destroyed.
Reacting to the developments, experts note that Trump's energy truce means Ukraine will not strike Russian operating oil refineries, while Russia will not strike Ukraine's non-operating refinery. Some Ukrainian experts believe Trump's move is a betrayal of allied positions and worse than Russian actions. Russian economist Kirill Rogov suggested that Putin's motive is to damage Trump's relations with Zelensky and Europe, as well as to use the deal as leverage to pressure Zelensky to restrict Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries.
Written by urgent.news from Kyiv Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
