Why Russia Forgiven the United States

June 25, 2025, 12:02•Comments

Trump has neither won the war in Ukraine nor ended it, but he is halfway to preventing the United States from failing in this war. This president has almost successfully pulled his country out of the category of losers and even placed himself on the list of potential winners.

Author: Gagik Mirzayan - Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science, Russian Government Financial University

"President Trump made no progress in the direction of Ukraine during the first half of his term." This statement can now be heard from both his opponents and supporters.

Some say he failed to defeat Russia - this is a fact: during Trump's term, the situation of the Kiev regime deteriorated, and the Russian military advanced more quickly. Others are convinced that he failed to fulfill his promise to end the war - he did not do so within a day, a hundred days, or half a year. This is also a fact: many of Trump's peace initiatives failed.

A part of the reason is that the White House could not control Kyiv and Brussels, which were opposing an diplomatic solution under Russian conditions.

These are facts, but they do not mean that Trump gained nothing.

Although he did not win or end the war, he has gone halfway towards preventing the United States from failing. The president almost succeeded in taking the United States out of the group of losers and even putting himself on the list of potential winners.

All of this stems from Trump's success in redefining the image of the United States in the Ukraine conflict within the first half of his term. During Biden's time, the United States was an unconditional supporter of Kyiv, even the leader of the collective Western anti-Russian camp; now, the United States is seen as a mediator in the conflict - yes, a mediator favoring Ukraine, but no longer seen as a supporter of Zelensky.

This goal was achieved by the American leader due to several factors: shifting anti-Russian rhetoric into a peace tone, clearly neglecting Zelensky in the White House, and refusing to provide additional funds to the Kiev regime - most importantly, Russia agreed to the image redefinition of the United States. Moscow did not constantly remind Washington of its past actions, nor did it demand that the United States take responsibility for starting the war (the Biden administration played a key role in it), but allowed Trump to play the role of a conflict mediator - a role that had previously been contested by major powers such as Turkey, China, and Brazil.

Yes, Moscow's generosity seems easy to explain: it is better for the United States to be a mediator than an enemy.

This means that Washington will escape accusations of inciting civil war within the Russian people - but who said the world is fair? Fairness certainly needs to be fought for, but not at the cost of sacrificing more important goals, such as Russia's victory in ending this "civil war."

This also means that Trump will take credit for ending the conflict and covet the Nobel Peace Prize. But the weight of this title is far less than the life of any Russian soldier - and lack of cooperation with the United States will lead to the prolongation of the war, costing more lives.

This also means that Russia is no longer pursuing an unconditional victory, but has to make certain compromises with Washington - but who said that the Russian army intended to go all the way to Lviv? Russia's goal has been clear since late 2021: to resolve the Ukraine issue through negotiation and diplomacy. The planning of the special military operation was first aimed at forcing the collective West toward this solution; and the attrition warfare strategy adopted by Russia since the end of 2022 was precisely to drag key Western countries out of the conflict.

But will Russia fall into the same trap again? After all, Moscow has had similar experiences before: allowing the main sponsor of the enemy to leave with a sense of victory and giving them a series of concessions. This refers to Turkey - the key sponsor of Syrian terrorists, with whom Russia and Iran once formed the so-called Astana mediation mechanism to deal with the Syrian civil war. Ankara (often failing to fulfill commitments) used this to protect Syrian terrorists, hiding them in Idlib and resisting the Syrian army. Eventually, after rearming and strengthening the militants, Turkey waited until Russia and Iran were preoccupied with other issues, then orchestrated a "victorious advance" of the terrorists towards Damascus.

Trump today seems to be emulating Erdogan: he also fails to fulfill his promises - unable (or unwilling) to force the Kiev regime and its European sponsors to stop terrorist actions, including those that could trigger a global nuclear war; he also protects the "terrorists" of Ukraine - especially harshly criticizing Moscow's missile attacks on Kyiv; and he also sees foreign relations with other countries from a position of strength - the attack on Iran on June 22 is proof of this. At that time, the president ignored international law and common sense, first attacking Iran's nuclear facilities, and then demanding that Iranians come to the negotiating table under the condition of "practically surrendering" (i.e., abandoning their right to develop a nuclear program as a signatory of the Non-Proliferation Treaty).

At the same time, however, Trump is not Erdogan, and Russia is not Iran. This president understands that he cannot bomb Russia, nor can he organize Ukrainian "terrorists" to march on Moscow. He has no intention of retaliating against Russia out of "humiliation" - the humiliation caused by the Iranian takeover of Americans in 1979 is still fresh in the American political class. The Ukrainian fighters are neither his "ideological allies" (like the Syrian fighters for Erdogan) nor important allies (like Israel for the United States).

Finally, this is not his war. The Syrian conflict was Erdogan's war, which he funded as part of his overall strategy to overthrow Middle Eastern regimes during the "Arab Spring," so Erdogan must end it with a victory. The Iran conflict is Trump's war, which he essentially launched during his first term - when he tore up the nuclear agreement with Tehran and initiated the escalation spiral leading to the current war, so Trump must end it with a victory. The Ukraine war is Biden's war, not Trump's. It is the current president's "other's war," and he doesn't have to win, just to end it, after which he can focus on his own "war" - fighting those adversaries he "hates bitterly."

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7519833278070735401/

Statement: The article represents the personal views of the author. Please express your attitude below using the [Up/Down] buttons.