Fish Wrap: Trump May Be Wiping His Hands Of The Whole Ukraine-Russia War

By William Teach September 26, 2025 – 6:45 am

This is in the “news analysis” section of the NY Times, so, just one step away from the opinion section. Oh, and hey, weird how the Times and few other media outlets bother mentioning Ukraine anymore
With His Pivot on Ukraine, Trump May Be Washing His Hands of the War
Eight months into his second term, President Trump has made a declaration about Ukraine that sounded vaguely like the ones his predecessor, President Joseph R. Biden Jr., used to make. With the right mix of courage, ingenuity and weapons from NATO, he asserted on Tuesday, Ukraine could force Russia to retreat from the territory it has seized in three and a half years of brutal war.
But scratch the surface, and a deeper desire seemed buried in Mr. Trump’s reversal of position during the U.N. meetings in New York this week. Mr. Trump appears to want to wash his hands of the Ukraine conflict, after having no success bringing President Vladimir V. Putin to the negotiating table, and a dwindling chance of acting as mediator between the two warring parties.
Based on what? I’ve pre-read the article twice. Can David E. Sanger read Trump’s mind?
Like many policy declarations by Mr. Trump, it is hard to divine his true beliefs, and impossible to assure he will not change position again. He is nothing if not mercurial. His foreign policy views, former aides say, are more often driven by pique and a sense that he has been disrespected than by strategic analysis.
Hard to define, but, David did.
White House officials did not respond on the record to questions about Mr. Trump’s new strategy. But a senior White House official argued that during the Biden administration, the United States only had one option, to fund Ukraine indefinitely, and there were no negotiations underway with Russia. The official said that Mr. Trump remained willing to impose a round of tariffs against Moscow — not traditional sanctions — but only if Europe ceased buying all energy from Russia.
Maybe Ukraine should stop selling grain to Russia? It looks like Trump gave negotiations with Putin a shot, in the same way you might negotiate with a business rival. It didn’t work out, so, Trump is moving a different way
For his part, President Volodymyr Zelensky did his best to sound enthusiastic about the president’s rhetorical shift, which he called a “game changer.”
Mr. Zelensky had some reason to celebrate: His long-running effort to get back into Mr. Trump’s good graces, after their famous confrontation in the Oval Office in February, had paid off. Mr. Trump was no longer pressuring him to give up land for peace, which could be politically suicidal for the wartime president. Moreover, Mr. Trump, openly annoyed at Mr. Putin, may have been pressuring the Russian leader to make concessions, rather than Mr. Zelensky.
What does it all mean in reality? I doubt Trump is washing his hands, as he would love to go down as the president who brought peace
Top EU diplomat warns Trump that Europe can’t shoulder Ukraine war burden alone
Europe alone is not responsible for helping Ukraine bring an end to its war with Russia, EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas warned Thursday.
That is particularly true when considering President Donald Trump’s pledge to halt the fighting, she said in an interview on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.
“He was the one who promised to stop the killing,” Kallas said. “So it can’t be on us.”
Her comments come as Ukraine and its allies try to divine the meaning of Trump’s sudden about-face on the war between Kyiv and Moscow.
Why not? Why can’t Europe take the lead, considering they are right there and claim they are in danger? How about they all stop buying European energy, to start with?

Fish Wrap: Trump May Be Wiping His Hands Of The Whole Ukraine-Russia War » Pirate's Cove