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President Trump says he had a productive call with Russian President Vladimir Putin today and that he plans to meet Putin in Hungary soon. The call came just one day before Trump is to host Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House. And many Ukraine watchers were hoping that this would be a time when Trump would turn up the heat on Russia. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports.
MICHELE KELEMEN, BYLINE: It was less than eight months ago when President Trump berated the Ukrainian president in front of cameras at the White House.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Your country is...
PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY: Can I...
TRUMP: ...In big...
ZELENSKYY: Can I...
TRUMP: ...Trouble.
ZELENSKYY: Can...
TRUMP: Wait a minute.
ZELENSKYY: ...I answer?
TRUMP: No, no. You've done a lot of talking. Your country is in big trouble.
ZELENSKYY: I know.
TRUMP: You're not winning.
ZELENSKYY: I know.
TRUMP: You're not winning this.
KELEMEN: Retired diplomat Daniel Fried calls it a low point.
DANIEL FRIED: But it also reflected what was a major stream of opinion within the administration. The U.S. has no strategic interests in Ukraine whatsoever, that it is a waste of resources. And there are people in the administration who maintain this position.
KELEMEN: But Trump himself is evolving, says Fried, a former assistant secretary of state for Europe, now with the Atlantic Council, a think tank that promotes relations with Europe. The U.S. has gotten NATO to buy U.S. weapons for Ukraine. The Trump administration has resumed intelligence sharing, and Fried says Ukraine has been successful in striking energy infrastructure in Russia.
FRIED: President Trump was impressed by Ukrainian successes in deep strikes on Russia and realized that if he's going to back Putin, he's not backing a winner. He's backing somebody who's a potential loser and deceitful.
KELEMEN: Trump has repeatedly said he's been disappointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin. He's called Russia a paper tiger. And earlier this week, before his phone call with Putin, Trump said Russia is not only taking big losses on the battlefield, but its economy is suffering too.
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TRUMP: And I'd like to see him do well. I mean, I had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin. But he just doesn't want to end that war, and I think it's making him look very bad. He could end it. He could end it quickly.
KELEMEN: Ukraine supporters in the Washington foreign policy establishment say it's time for Trump to impose more sanctions on Russia and give Ukraine the weapons and air defenses it needs. Retired naval officer Mark Montgomery is with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (ph). He says President Trump has given Putin the chance to negotiate an end to the war.
MARK MONTGOMERY: Sometimes pushing hard for peace means understanding who is the victim and who's the aggressor. Putin is the aggressor. Russia is the aggressor. Russia will not stop unless someone bigger and tougher than them punches them in the nose. That country - for better or worse - that country is the United States.
KELEMEN: And President Trump, he says, is in a position to change the course of this conflict. Daniel Fried says Ukraine could offer the U.S. something, too, not just rare earth minerals, as they've been discussing, but also drone technology.
FRIED: American capital and Ukrainian know-how combined would help arm the Americans for the new wars of the 21st century, including with China. And that's something Zelenskyy can say. That is a material interest, and cooperation would benefit both sides.
KELEMEN: It's a pitch that Zelenskyy made the last time he was in the U.S. at the United Nations General Assembly. At that time, Trump posted on social media that he now thinks Ukraine could take back all of its territory with help from Europe. That was a big change from February when he told Zelenskyy in that fraught Oval Office meeting that the Ukrainians didn't hold any cards. Michele Kelemen, NPR News, Washington.
(SOUNDBITE OF ELMIENE SONG, "MARKING MY TIME") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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