President Trump: The Issue Isn’t Rocket Science

Ever since President Donald Trump got involved in the negotiations to end Russia’s war against Ukraine I have noticed that the White House team didn’t understand why Moscow invaded Ukraine, why Russia is aggressive against Ukraine, why it wants sovereign Ukrainian land, and why Putin hates Zelenskyy. Consequently, as I have written, this conundrum in the mind of the American president has lead him and his team to enunciate a fictitious state of parity between the Nazi-like dictator of Russia and the democratically elected leader of Ukraine, which Trump falsely believes can help resolve the issue and bring peace to the region. Trump browbeating Zelenskyy is unjust and accentuates the American president’s ignorance.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio posed the rhetorical question in the European Pravda of February 26, 2026, sympathetically bemoaning that President Trump does not understand why Ukraine and Russia cannot reach an agreement to end the war.

Rubio was asked by journalists why the American president’s frustration appears to be directed equally at both Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin – though he does arm twist Zelenskyy more than Putin to come to the table and accept a deal – given that Russia continues to strike civilian infrastructure and civilians across Ukraine.

He replied that Trump’s frustration is general in nature, as reflected in his previous statements.

“He just doesn't understand how two countries in such a vicious, horrific, and bloody war cannot reach an understanding on how to end it. He wants to see it ended, and he's done a lot. He's invested a lot of political capital in this,” Rubio said.

He might have invested a lot in the war’s end but that investment wasn’t backed up by knowledge and comprehension of the issues going back centuries. Simply stated, Russia has been hell bent on invading and subjugating Ukraine while Ukrainians have had to defend their nation against Russian tsarists, communists and “putinists.” Trump doesn’t know that, doesn’t want to know or doesn’t care about that important historical fact.

Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s Presidential Office, laid out the issues on the proverbial historical table, pointing out that Russia’s war against Ukraine is rooted in centuries-old imperial ambitions that have not changed despite shifts in regime, like I have been saying.

In an interview with the Arab outlet Al-Modon published in the February 27 edition of the Kyiv Post, Budanov stated that lasting security for Ukraine and Europe will only be possible when Russia ceases to exist as an empire, while firmly rejecting any territorial concessions to Moscow.

Budanov noted that the war has effectively lasted 12 years – since 2014 – longer than the First and Second World Wars combined. Over that time, he said, Russia has grown weaker economically, politically and demographically, but its imperial ambitions have remained intact.

“The change of regimes in Russia has not changed its essence,” he said, adding that neither the tsarist, Soviet nor current system prioritized improving citizens’ lives – tsarist, soviet and putinist.

“The policy of the current Russian president is not much different from the policy of the tsarist or Soviet eras,” he said.

According to Budanov, Russia will not transform through internal processes alone. “We should create conditions under which Russia as an empire will disappear,” he said, suggesting that several regional nation-states could eventually emerge in its place. “Only then will Ukraine, Europe and the whole world feel more secure.”

He stressed that Ukrainians will not accept territorial concessions. The issue of territory, he said, remained central during recent trilateral talks in Geneva involving the US. “Territories are the main issue. Everything else is secondary,” Budanov said, expressing confidence that all occupied lands would eventually be liberated.

The Kremlin’s ultimate goal, he added, is not limited to individual regions but encompasses all of Ukraine. “It is naive to think that Moscow, having seized some territories without a fight, will abandon its expansionist ambitions. Therefore, the only real deterrent is the Ukrainian army.”

Indeed, Moscow’s appetite for Ukraine – its land and people – cannot be slaked by concessions or other forms of appeasement. That’s why Zelenskyy demands that the free world give Ukraine security guarantees that would make Russia suffer painfully if it violates the deal anytime in the future.

Zelenskyy is justly adamant about not surrendering Ukrainian land to Russia for any reason. “Honestly, I do not believe that this is all that Russia demands. Our withdrawal from Donbas, and then the war will end. Russia is Russia, and you cannot trust them,” Zelenskyy said expressing his steadfast decision about no concessions.