{"id":1339122,"date":"2025-12-31T20:06:12","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T18:06:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/for-ukraine-the-year-began-with-trump-and-ends-with-trump\/"},"modified":"2026-01-01T08:12:04","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T06:12:04","slug":"for-ukraine-the-year-began-with-trump-and-ends-with-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/for-ukraine-the-year-began-with-trump-and-ends-with-trump\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Framed Ukraine\u2019s Year: From the First Day to the Last"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Source: Author&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/natalia.balyuk.710\/posts\/pfbid02nBRVgV71ciQdwquFMtdbThYYeXKczn89E53tpAjcpBa496zXPiDM9PmbGLSAVQxLl?locale=uk_UA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Facebook<\/a> page<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>In 2025, the world once again revolved around U.S. President Donald Trump. For Ukraine, it was both symbolic and revealing that the year opened\u2014and closed\u2014with Trump.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"97\" data-end=\"609\">It all began with a scandalous meeting at the White House in February, when negotiations ended in an open quarrel between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump, along with Vice President Vance, who helped provoke the confrontation. At the time, it seemed that everything was lost: relations with the United States appeared to be irreparably damaged, and Ukraine faced the prospect of losing its key strategic ally\u2014one that provided invaluable military assistance, including intelligence support.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"611\" data-end=\"797\">Fortunately, thanks in part to the efforts of Ukraine\u2019s European partners, a full-scale catastrophe was avoided. And now, at the end of the year, Zelenskyy and Trump have met once again.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"799\" data-end=\"1287\">Many observers consider the main achievement of this meeting to be the simple fact that it did not end in another quarrel. This is despite Trump\u2019s strikingly inappropriate remarks, in which he claimed that Putin \u201cwants to see Ukraine successful\u201d and is supposedly \u201csincere and generous in wishing Ukraine success, particularly in the energy sector, by selling energy resources at low prices.\u201d With such statements, Trump repeatedly provoked Zelenskyy, seemingly inviting a sharp reaction.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1289\" data-end=\"1733\">These remarks amounted to a blatant mockery of a country that endures daily bombardment, including systematic attacks on its energy infrastructure\u2014leaving millions of Ukrainians for days without electricity, heating, or water. Yet Ukraine\u2019s president, having learned from bitter experience, restrained himself, allowing his reaction to surface only in his facial expressions. And as the saying goes, facial expressions do not count as evidence.<\/p>\n\t\t<aside class=\"shortcode-also\" data-title=\"Read also\" >\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/meeting-in-florida-what-zelensky-and-trump-did-not-agree-on\/\">Florida Face-Off: Zelenskyy vs. Trump\u2014What They Couldn\u2019t Agree On<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\n<p data-start=\"137\" data-end=\"549\">From the very first days of Trump\u2019s presidency, it was clear that he was playing on Putin\u2019s side. Throughout the year, Trump acted as an ally\u2014and an accomplice\u2014of the Russian dictator, first covertly and then openly. His latest scandalous remarks about a \u201cgood Putin\u201d only confirm his complete alignment with the aggressor. Any lingering illusions about the American president should, by now, be fully dispelled.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"551\" data-end=\"980\">Trump is either profoundly detached from reality, inhabiting a parallel world of his own making, or he is a complete cynic. One does not exclude the other. On the one hand, this is alarming; on the other, it offers a measure of hope\u2014that Zelenskyy understands this as well and therefore will not make the capitulatory concessions Trump is effectively demanding on Putin\u2019s behalf, concessions that would be disastrous for Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"982\" data-end=\"1312\">One can only hope that Zelenskyy also recognizes a more fundamental truth: there will be no peace as long as Putin does not want it. As long as Russian forces continue to advance at the front\u2014even at a snail\u2019s pace\u2014there will be no meaningful concessions from Moscow. And that means there will be no real progress in negotiations.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1314\" data-end=\"1607\">The so-called peace talks\u2014or rather, the imitation of negotiations\u2014are yet another Kremlin special operation, pursuing two clear objectives: buying time to delay or avoid additional sanctions (a strategy that has worked for an entire year), and fuelling internal destabilization within Ukraine.<\/p>\n\t\t<aside class=\"shortcode-also\" data-title=\"Read also\" data-right>\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/results-of-2025-what-gifts-did-the-sbu-stuff-into-the-occupier-during-the-year\/\">2025 in Review: How the SBU \u2018Gifted\u2019 the Occupier Some Surprises<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\n<p data-start=\"100\" data-end=\"474\">The very discussion of the points of a so-called \u201cpeace agreement\u201d only unsettles and demoralizes Ukrainians, many of whom feel they are being psychologically conditioned to accept surrender. This plays directly into Putin\u2019s hands. While Ukraine, the United States, and Europe remain absorbed in a fake \u201cpeace process,\u201d Putin continues to advance quietly on the battlefield.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"476\" data-end=\"1208\">Ukraine\u2019s authorities must finally curb their appetite for corruption and channel all available resources into strengthening the army. The NABU investigations have shown that corrupt officials enriched themselves so brazenly that they effectively \u201cstole ten lifetimes\u201d during the Great War. As German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has rightly stated, the only real guarantor of Ukraine\u2019s security is its army. I would add that it is also the guarantor of Europe\u2019s security. Russia needs a conquered Ukraine as a launchpad for further aggression against Europe\u2014starting, for example, with Estonia. Europe has finally begun to grasp this reality, which offers hope that in 2026 it will provide Ukraine with sustained and decisive support.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"525\" data-end=\"841\">The real problem is that the Armed Forces of Ukraine have ceased to be a top priority for President Zelenskyy. The 2026 budget makes this unmistakably clear: money flows freely to populism and propaganda, while the army is financed on a leftover principle. Even a pay raise for soldiers was deemed unnecessary.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1574\" data-end=\"1973\">Meanwhile, Russia plans to allocate nearly 30 percent of its state budget\u2014approximately $166.8 billion\u2014to military spending next year, the highest level since the Soviet era.<\/p>\n\t\t<aside class=\"shortcode-also\" data-title=\"Read also\" >\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/remote-checkerboard-why-the-authorities-want-elections-in-wartime\/\">Remote \u201ccheckerboard\u201d: why the authorities want elections in wartime<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\n<p>Meanwhile, the Ukrainian government is preparing for&#8230; elections. Because it really wants to keep power. Thus, instead of directing all our efforts against the enemy, we are turning them against one another. This is not just nonsense; this is another Kremlin special operation.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"134\" data-end=\"570\">Unfortunately, despite the war, the President of Ukraine\u2014assisted by Yermak\u2014has attempted to build an authoritarian system of power. Yermak\u2019s formal withdrawal following the NABU searches did not bring any fundamental change to the situation in the country. He merely retreated into the shadows, while the power structure he constructed remained intact. Moreover, not a single odious official promoted by Yermak was removed from office.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"572\" data-end=\"831\">How the country continues to hold on amid such internal erosion remains an open question. As one of my favorite military analysts puts it, this endurance can be explained only by divine providence\u2014and, above all, by the heroism of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"833\" data-end=\"926\">And as for what we all wish for in the coming year\u2014we will not say it aloud, lest we jinx it.<\/p>\n<p>Also, follow <strong>\u201cPryamyi\u201d<\/strong> on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pryamiy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Facebook<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/prm_ua\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Twitter<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/t.me\/+rtV4dxYu2_cyNjVi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Telegram<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/pryamiy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><em>\u2022 Materials published in the \u201cOPINIONS\u201d section reflect the opinion of the author of the publication, who bears full responsibility for the accuracy of the information.<\/em><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><em>\u2022 The editorial staff of prm.ua may not share the opinions expressed in the author&#8217;s material.<\/em><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><em>\u2022 The owner of the webpage in the \u201cOPINIONS\u201d section is the author of the publication.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Source: Author&#8217;s Facebook page In 2025, the world once again revolved around U.S. President Donald Trump. For Ukraine, it was both symbolic and revealing that the year opened\u2014and closed\u2014with Trump.\u00a0 It all began with a scandalous meeting at the White House in February, when negotiations ended in an open quarrel between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":1339072,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[76871,76872,76893],"class_list":["post-1339122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-2","category-news-feed","category-thoughts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1339122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1339122"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1339122\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1339157,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1339122\/revisions\/1339157"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1339072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1339122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1339122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}