Trump wants to show he can hurt Putin — Ohryzko

The «major statement» on Russia announced by U.S. President Donald Trump for Monday, July 14, does not signify the start of radical changes in the White House’s stance toward Ukraine. The American leader merely wants to demonstrate that he can cause pain to Putin.

This opinion was expressed by former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Volodymyr Ohryzko during a broadcast on Radio NV.

According to him, the shift in Trump’s rhetoric toward the Kremlin leader is a positive sign, but it’s still too early to «pop the champagne and drink it everywhere every day.»

«In my view, he will simply show that he wants to slightly increase support, say that he will help Ukraine repel Russian attacks. Perhaps he’ll find a couple of billion dollars still left from the Biden administration, which he can use without Congressional approval, ” the experienced diplomat speculated.

Regarding the weapons Ukraine needs, Ohryzko suggested that Trump might agree to sell them to European NATO partners, who could then transfer them to Kyiv.

At the same time, the Ukrainian diplomat believes that Donald Trump has invested too much in trying to build a relationship with Russia to take drastic steps.

«It seems to me that this will be more like a tactical game, a demonstration that I can still make things bad for Putin, that I can hurt him, ” he emphasized.

Additionally, the former minister suggested that during the meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, there might have been a kind of exchange proposal — Russian dictator Putin would give up support for Iran, while America would make concessions regarding Ukraine.

«What comes of this, we don’t know. But I think we’ll wait until tomorrow to find out what Trump actually wants to do and how serious these steps against Russia will be, ” he concluded.